Let Go
by LoveThatFandom
Summary: Evelyn Hale has been on the run ever since her abilities came into the light. She's been labelled a bio-terrorist, a monster, and a freak. The world is looking for her, and she has always been hiding until the day her best friend Elijah gets taken for his association with her. With her world now turned upside down, she has to stop hiding and face the world head on. Delsin x oc.
1. Taken

**Chapter 1: Taken**

"Keep running, Eli!"

"I'm not as fast as you, you know!"

"Unless you want to be caught, you gotta move!"

Flashing red and blue lights never faded as they ran as fast as they could. Even cutting through alleys wasn't enough to free them from their pursuers. Every corner was another cop car and a gunshot nearly clipping her shoulder. Getting shot wouldn't be a big deal for her, but for Elijah, it could be life or death. There was no way that the only person that mattered to her was going to die. Not today. Not ever. Too much had already happened to her. She couldn't let that happen too.

"Evelyn! Ev, this way!"

Her attention diverted to him within a split second and she switched directions, ducking as they slipped through a slit in the chain-link fence blocking off the alley. A bullet ricocheted off the dumpster as she passed it, nearly embedding itself in her best friend's back. Her heart lurched in her throat and for a moment, she couldn't breathe, the shock and reality of the situation finally crashing down on her. Never had they been this close to being caught. They always got away before the cops showed up.

Guess their luck had to run out some day.

Elijah leaped over the fence on the other side of the alley just as another cop car skidded to a stop in front of them. She landed roughly on the ground after jumping over the fence and rammed into the car, leaving a considerable dent in the vehicle as she rapidly changed directions.

"I cant k-keep running f-forever!" her friend wheezed, nearly tripping over the curb as he tried to avoid a civilian.

Okay. Okay. Figure out a place to hide. There were plenty of nooks and crannies around the city, but she had to consider Elijah wasn't like her. If she was on her own, she could easily escape, get up to a roof maybe and disappear from sight. But she had to consider his limitations and go from there. Pipes and vents were out of the question. Alleyways were too obvious. And abandoned apartment maybe? Not back home because then they'd know where they were staying.

"Get downtown, by the shore! Abandoned dock!" she shouted, spitting out some of her black hair that slipped between her lips.

She briefly saw the thumbs up he gave her as he ran and changed directions once more. It was easy to see that he was quite exhausted from running, whereas she wasn't even winded. Perks of her stupid curse, she guessed.

Finally, it seemed like they were getting somewhere. As they sprinted down to the dock, the sirens began to grow distant. Elijah dove through the broken window of the old fishing shack where they commonly hid, and she slipped inside after him, dropping to the floor and pressing her back against the wall.

He practically collapsed in a heap, chest heaving with exhaustion. Still, a stupid smile stretched across his lips and he fished through his jean pocket, pulling out a wad of cash and waggling it in the air. She rolled her eyes, but had to smile. Even if it was a tough get away, they still got what they needed. She wished that they could get cash the normal way - by working - but with their wanted status, stealing it was the only option. Of course, they could leave the city, but her heart was too tied to Seattle to let it go so easily.

"Here." He tossed her the cash, taking a shaky breath and sitting up. "It's not much, but better than our last raid."

"I don't care. As long as we have something," she breathed, stuffing the money in her pocket and pausing for a moment to listen as the sirens got closer again.

Both of them grew silent and he rolled up his sleeves, revealing the many tattoos engraved in his skin. She'd been there when he'd gotten a few of them and she couldn't help but smirk to herself as she remembered him shifting in discomfort as the needles pierced his skin.

A shout brought her back to her senses and she remained completely silent, taking a moment to peer through one of the boarded up windows. They were close, searching the area they were in right now. Not good. They would eventually look where they were and find them. If they were going to get away, they had to sneak out and find somewhere else to hide.

Elijah seemed to pick up on this and shifted quietly across the little shack, silently moving some fishing rods aside and peering carefully through the window she was. He seemed to catch sight of something because his eyebrows shot up and he nudged her. Swiveling her eyes to him, she watched as he pointed to something across the street and her stomach plummeted. A D.U.P. station under construction.

"No way, it's too dangerous," she whispered, shrinking slightly as a cop walked by their window.

"They won't expect us there. And no one's inside right now, it's still being built...," he breathed.

The door rattled suddenly and she jumped, nearly knocking over the fishing equipment. Her green eyes connected with his brown ones and she let out a shaky breath before nodding. It looked to be their only option at this point.

With quiet steps, she sneaked back over to the window they came through, poking her head out to make sure it was clear before slipping through. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest like a boom speaker and she waited for a brief moment before slipping down the dock as the cops broke through the door of the shack. They booked it across the street to the D.U.P. station and she felt a pang of fear as they slipped in through a small crack in the fence. Like Elijah predicted, no one was here, but being in such a dangerous place made her uneasy.

As she ducked underneath a tarp to a more sheltered area, she spotted several wanted posters on the wall. Three of them - two men and one woman - had a large, red X across the faces, with a small note in sloppy handwriting written beneath. _'Transporting to facility 6/21.'_ That was three days ago. They'd been caught.

Next to those three were two more. One with her own picture smeared across the paper and the other with Elijah's. He wasn't even like she was, but the fact that he stuck by her side no matter what made him dangerous to them.

The picture of him used was before he got a haircut and a few piercings. His jet black hair was shoulder-length, almost completely in his face. Now, one side of his head was shaved down with the other reaching just below his chin. A couple of snake bites resided in his lips now as well, despite her pressuring him to not get them.

Just seeing his face on a poster made her wish she never got him involved in this. All of it was on her, not him. He deserved to live a normal life. Have an actual apartment, a girlfriend, maybe. A job. Not be on the run with her. But ever since they met and became best friends at age sixteen, he'd always stuck by her, no matter what. They'd been through everything together and as soon as he turned eighteen, he moved out of his parent's house and stuck with her. She could never thank him enough, she just wished he didn't have to go through what she was.

Her eyes shifted over to the other poster, the poster of herself. All of this was because of who she was. Because of something she couldn't change. How was she supposed to change something that was a part of her? Now they called her a freak of nature - a bio-terrorist. She didn't _want_ any of this. If she could, she would go back to her normal life before her parents were killed for their association with her. She'd do _anything_ to get that back.

For a brief moment, she skimmed her fingers over the poster, sighing softly to herself. She wasn't going to become like one of the others. The facility, she'd heard of. Bad things about it. Experiments and torture. It was the last place on earth she wanted to be. That was why she had to constantly keep running.

Something else she noticed on the wall among the posters. A picture. Or several of them. All were blurry and poorly taken, but it was still easy to see that they were of another bio-terrorist. Shots of him running and shooting what appeared to be smoke out of his hands. None got a clear shot of his face, but it was easy to see that he had a red beanie on with a denim jacket. Another rising risk for them, she guessed. The more of them that cropped up, the more they cracked down on the rules. But sooner or later, they'd have to put everyone in prison. More and more of them were coming out from hiding. It gave her a bit of hope that maybe one day they'd be able to take control and bring peace back to the city, but with the woman in charge now and how strictly she dealt with bio-terrorists, she didn't think it would be any time within her lifespan.

The click of a gun startled her out of her thoughts and she spun. Her heart sank when she saw the police, one with a gun to Elijah's head and the others point their weapons at her.

"Put your hands up!" the man holding Elijah shouted.

Shakily, she did as she was told, knowing if she tried to do anything, they'd blast her best friend's brains out all over the ground.

"Thought you could try and get away with a little cash, huh? Nice try. But you can't fool us that easily," he hissed. "Bring her over here and call for back-up."

One of them moved toward her, grabbing her arms and putting them behind her back.

"Detective! Wait, she's one of them! Him too!"

Her whole body tensed and she looked over to the man holding her wrists as he pointed to the wanted poster behind her. A thousand curses ran through her mind and she locked eyes with Elijah. No, she couldn't let him be captured for her. He didn't do anything but befriend her and be there for her when she had no one else. She couldn't let him suffer for her. She was going to get him out of this if it was the last thing she did. Even if it meant that she was going to be captured and hauled off to be experimented on.

"He's not one of them," she breathed, eyes slowly raising.

"Nice try, missy. Howard, call up the D.U.P.s! We need them here stat!" he shouted, adjusting his grip on the gun that aimed right at Elijah's temple. "Either of you try anything and I blow his brains out."

Her body started to shake anxiously and she looked around for something - anything - that she could use to try and help them get out of this situation.

"Ev, you can't get caught okay? Don't worry about me. I'm gonna be fine. You worry about you, okay?" Elijah assured, his eyes glistening with concern. "Do you hear me?"

"I'm not leaving you-"

 _"You have to."_

"Both of you, shut it!" the cop interrupted.

Elijah's eyes hardened in determination and in the blink of an eye, he used all of his strength to duck back out of the gun's range and shove the cop hard. Instinctively, she mustered up the sound from the incident to direct it at the gun and shove it out of the cop's hand just as it fired. The bullet bounced right off the metal fence and out of range, but at the same time all of the weapons aimed at her were fired.

Her eyes widened and she focused on the sound created by the gunshots, directing the waves at the bullets to block them from pelting her. One of them got through and pierced her arm, leaving a small gash in its wake.

She ducked to the floor, wincing slightly and crawling over to Elijah to protect him from the oncoming bullets. Each time a bullet hit her soundwave barrier, she winced. Of course she had been shot at before, but not like this. She was scared - terrified actually - and she had no idea what to do. The D.U.P.s would be here any moment and they couldn't be here. They had to run again.

"We have to go!" she screamed, causing the barrier around them to thicken momentarily.

He shook his head, grabbing onto her arm. "No, _you_ have to go. I'm not going to be able to keep up, Ev. The only way you're going to get out of this is if you fly. Your parents died so that you could be free. You're not going to get captured for me."

She shook her head viciously, nearly choking on her own emotions as they bubbled up in her chest. "I c-can't. I n-need you."

"No you don't! You're more powerful than anyone I've ever met. You can do this. I know you can."

The all-too-familiar sirens of the D.U.P. vehicles reached her ears and she tensed up, overwhelming fear rushing into her bloodstream. It was then that she did the most cowardly thing she'd ever done in her life. She ran.

Not once did she look back, even though her heart was exploding as she left her best friend behind. The overwhelming fear drove her forward and she dodged the bullets that came flying her way. How could she do this? How could she leave him behind?

A tear trickled down her cheek as she leaped toward the nearest building, mustering up the soundwaves from all of the noise down below to propel herself up to the roof. She never got winded, but she was feeling the strain of her lungs as she jumped down to the next building. It was all of her emotions and her need to cry that was sapping all of the oxygen from her lungs.

But she kept going. She kept flying and running and jumping until the sirens were gone and she was alone on a rooftop across the city with the Space Needle sitting in front of her. She stayed huddled on the roof for several agonizing moments until she felt she was safe and not going to be dragged away. In that moment when she realized that no one was going to get her, all of her emotions crashed around her.

Tears flew down her cheeks in waves and her shoulders shook with silent sobs that couldn't seem to escape her lips. She was the most cowardly person she knew. The one person she cared about - her best friend in the whole world - was now gone because of her. He was going to be taken where she should have been taken if she hadn't ran. Maybe he was even dead. She wouldn't be surprised if he was. He was much braver and more rebellious than her.

Everything she had was gone and it was all her fault. If she had just been brave enough to fight back, to wait for him and escape with him at her side... All it took was the sirens to bring her back to that night... The sirens that always struck fear in her heart. They caused her to run the first time and every time since then.

With shaky hands, she wiped the tears from her eyes and ducked her head, looking down at the street below. She had to get Elijah back. What if he was still alive? But how was she even going to do it? If she couldn't save him then, what made her think that she could save him now? Especially if he was stuck in the facility that she didn't know the location of, with hundreds of D.U.P.s guarding the entrance.

Her watery gaze shifted up to the Space Needle for a brief moment and she caught sight of a large flag hanging from the top of the needle that she hadn't noticed before. Two eagles, intertwined and connected with a star, one side blue and the other side red. Something about the flag connected with her. She needed to fly. Be an eagle that fought for freedom, not just for her and others like her, but for Elijah. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she needed to. Even if she was afraid.

Slowly, she got to her feet, eyes locked on the flag. With a shaky breath, she lifted her hand up to her forehead, using two fingers to salute. She had to do this. There was no other way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello everyone! Long time no see! This is a story I've had cooped up in my files since Nanowrimo like 3 years ago and Delsin is one of my video game babes. I've only got about 7 chapters but I'm going to update every week or two to try and give me some time to get back in the groove of writing. I already have the entire outline of the story I just have to write it, so it might be a bit easier for me to actually complete this since I know exactly how it's ending. It's a bit of a jarring change compared to the rest of the stuff I've been updating but maybe it'll be a bit fresh instead of something to do with zombies lol**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to update again! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Decisions

**Chapter 2: Decisions**

Evelyn bent her head down and looked down at the cup of coffee in her hands. Its warmth radiated through her palms and she sighed gently, peering over the hood of her hoodie as she took another sweeping glance through the place. Ever since yesterday, she was on edge. They would be looking for her and she had to keep on the down low or else they'd capture her too. Now that she made the decision to try and go after Elijah, she couldn't afford to get captured. She'd have to try and keep away from the D.U.P.s as much as possible and keep her head down. More posters of her face had been plastered everywhere, which made it a bit difficult to go places without being recognized.

Mostly, she tried to stay away from public places, but she still needed to eat. She used the money that she and Elijah stole yesterday, but she only bought what she really needed. The rest would be for him when she got him back. Well, once she figured out how. She wasn't even sure where to begin. Maybe by getting into a D.U.P. station and trying to figure out what they had on their computers about the facility they took her best friend too. Only problem was, she was horrible with computers and it was likely that she would have to hack into one to get what she needed.

Bringing the coffee to her lips, she savored the flavor as it slid down her throat and warmed her chest. Her eyes flickered up as someone entered the coffee shop. It was a young man, probably around her age. He seemed slightly suspicious by the way he looked around as he wandered toward the counter. His head was covered with a red beanie and he wore jeans and a jean jacket with a graphic design on the back... Of two eagles? Were those the same she had seen on the flag hanging from the Space Needle yesterday?

He must've felt her gaze on him because his eyes jumped over to her suddenly. She lowered her head a little more and averted her gaze, pressing her lips together and trying to look as normal as possible. It seemed to do the trick until a body plopped in the seat across from her and she nearly groaned.

From beneath her hood, she peered at him as he looked at her with a weird look on his face, as if he was contemplating something.

"You look like you could use someone to talk to," he decided, biting into his crescent and taking a sip of his drink. "Lucky for you, I've got my hands free. Er..."

He set down the crescent and coffee. before continuing. "Well, free now."

She said nothing, not quite sure of what to even say anyway. He definitely seemed like the confident type and she wasn't. Besides, he basically invited himself to sit across from her without even asking. Maybe he'd just leave if she didn't say anything, but still...her mind flashed back to the eagles on his jacket and it made her wonder if he was the one going around and tagging things. Or maybe he'd just gotten the jacket made after he saw the flag too? Seemed unlikely, but that was always a possibility as well.

"Hello...? Are you um...deaf? I dunno how to sign, uh..." He looked up to the ceiling in thought and then tried to do some motion with his hand.

She rolled her eyes and sat back a little, still not tilting her head up so he couldn't see her face that much. "I can hear you."

"Oh! Well good. Didn't want to talk to a pretty lady without her understanding my intentions," he flirted, grinning broadly.

Oh. So he was one of _those_ types. She stayed quiet, taking a sip of her coffee. Almost gone and starting to get a little cool. She could leave soon and try to continue on her mission.

"Ah, so you're one of the playing hard to get types? I personally love a challenge. Haven't lost one yet," he bragged, leaning back in his seat and studying her.

"Look, mister-"

"Delsin. Delsin Rowe." He held out his hand, which she ignored.

"Fine, _Delsin_. I'm not really in the mood for this? I have somewhere to be and I really have to go," she decided, sliding out of the booth and standing, crumpling the empty cup of coffee in her hand and shouldering her backpack.

Before she gave him the chance to speak, she exited the coffee shop, starting down the street with her head bowed low to keep her face concealed. Cameras were always everywhere, which was why she preferred to scale the rooftops, but she couldn't easily do that without revealing her abilities.

She only made it half-way down the street before she was pulled to an abrupt stop with a hand encompassing her forearm. The abrupt stop made her spin and lose her balance and the hood slipped from her head as she turned to face her confronter. She should have known it was the Delsin guy.

"At least tell me your name?" he asked with a wink, not realizing exactly what he had done.

Evelyn spotted a security camera just over his shoulder and a bunch of curses tumbled from her lips. Prying his hand from her arm, she shoved the hoodie back over her head.

"You should go. Now." She licked her lips and turned, starting a quick pace down the street and toward the nearest alley.

He didn't seem to take the hint because she could hear his footsteps pounding behind her, but she ignored him. Her strides lengthened and she could hear the faint sirens of the D.U.P. heading their way. It would have been nice if they didn't plaster her face everywhere so she could move about freely, but they were determined to catch her. It would make her approach of getting to Elijah much harder. If there was a way she could disable the security cameras and maybe somehow block out the facial recognition, it would make her goal a lot easier. Maybe that was where she could start...

She stopped suddenly at the end of the alley, causing Delsin to ram into her and knock her over. With a grimace she, hit the pavement, right at the feet of a D.U.P. as he jumped out of his vehicle. Her heart hammered in her chest and she quickly scrambled out from under the man, diving for cover as the gunshots started.

"What the hell, man?" Delsin shouted.

No doubt he'd be dead within seconds for interfering. But when she poked her head out from behind her cover, she noticed that he wasn't. And he was actually fighting back. With smoke and ash spiraling from his fingertips. He was a bio-terrorist too?

Her thoughts were cut short as a bullet nearly skimmed the side of her face and she was grabbed from another side.

"I got her!" the D.U.P. holding her shouted, which only fed her abilities.

Channeling the sound waves coming from his shouting, she thrust out her hand toward him, projecting the echos of his own voice back into his face. The force of her attack sent him reeling back and luckily he let go of her so she didn't go flying with him. With him out of the way, she took cover once again, glancing back to the other side of the street where Delsin was also fighting, though his attention has seemed to be locked on her for a moment after she got rid of her own goon. She almost shouted at him to watch out as another D.U.P. aimed at him, but she paused and remained silent, weighing her options.

No matter what, she needed to get away from these D.U.P.s. Whether that meant slipping away quietly while this stranger fought off most of them or fighting back until they were all unconscious was still to be determined. Her instinct was to run now while she could because she knew she couldn't fight them all off. Her abilities were strong, but she never unlocked their full potential. She had always been too afraid because she didn't want to hurt anyone. At this point, she didn't think she'd be able to fight back even if she wanted to.

So that was why she made the decision to run.

While all the chaos was still going on around them, she stood and bolted. Delsin shouted at her, but she didn't stay to listen. Not like she could hear him very well anyway. Her heart was ramming against her ribcage and the extreme volume of sound was echoing through her mind much more rapidly than she could control. She could even hear conversations from blocks away, but the most prevalent were the gunshots and sirens. It was all too much.

A lone D.U.P. had followed her, but she blasted him away with another burst of soundwaves from her hands. It temporarily relieved some of the strain of echos in her mind and brought her back into focus long enough to see that this Delsin guy was following her - by slipping into smoke and swirling through vents back and forth from building to building.

Was she ever going to get rid of him?

Evelyn skidded to a stop just as that smoke cloud appeared in front of her. She took a moment to look behind her for the presence of D.U.P.s, but there were none. Straining to listen, she ignored him in front of her going on about something. She couldn't hear any more gunshots, but the sirens were still going. More distant than usual, probably just the D.U.P. vehicle still stuck back where they were before.

"Hello? Are you even listening?"

She snapped her head back to Delsin, who'd moved a little bit closer in an attempt to try and get her attention.

"You should go," she muttered, turning and pushing her palms down to make herself hover over the ground with a barrier of sound.

Without another word, she pushed herself up to the roof of the building next to her. She landed a bit sloppily, but then quickly moved toward the edge facing the street so she could get a better look of everything around her. Not surprisingly, she heard footsteps again an she nearly rolled her eyes.

"You know it would be nice if you gave me a chance to actually talk to you," Delsin said sassily, crouching down beside her.

"I don't want to. I already told you, you should go," she responded, continuing to scan the streets.

She ducked slightly when she saw a few police cars and D.U.P. vehicles driving down the street, most likely to where they were last.

"Hey, you're the only other conduit I've met, I'm not letting you go that easy," he shot back.

Standing, she turned to face him, taking a few steps back. "Conduit? You mean bio-terrorist?"

"No. That's what _they_ call us. We're not terrorists. We're different, _better._ "

"We're not better. You think this is a gift, but it's _not._ It's a curse. Just wait and see." She shook her head, retreating backwards further.

"You're believing their lies. They tell that to everyone, but it's not true. We're _special_ ," he countered, stepping toward her.

Who was this guy? Did he know nothing about any of this? She'd never officially met any of the other bio-terrorists in the city, but she knew they were smarter than this guy. He was cocky and just by looking him up and down, his attire showed he was more of the hipster-rebel type.

"Like what you see?" he quipped, smirking.

She was caught off guard, which caused her to blush lightly, but she rolled her eyes. "Who are you?"

"Delsin. I already told you. Who are you?"

His stubbornness and unwillingness to leave her alone was frustrating her and she found herself striding toward the edge of the building and leaping to the next, eager to put more _distance_ between the two of them.

"Will you stop that?!" he shouted after her, causing her to quicken her pace.

 _Why can't he just go? Doesn't he get it?_ She couldn't understand how he could still want to pursue her after she told him countless times to leave and basically dumped a whole truck of D.U.P.s on him. She didn't want another presence with her. All she wanted was to curl up into herself and try to figure out how she was even going to muster up the courage to get her best friend back.

A hand wrapped around her shoulder and that was the last straw.

With a swift turn, she shoved him backwards and sent a wave of pulsating sound flying at his chest. In the blink of an eye, he'd shifted to smoke and appeared a few feet to the left, successfully dodging the attack. This only frustrated her more and she sent another one flying toward him and then bolted for the second time that day. She just needed to get somewhere safe - somewhere where the noise was drowned out so that she could think.

As he gained on her by swooping forward in bursts of smoke and ash, she turned up the heat of her own and used the soundwaves to propel her faster. Apparently, it wasn't fast enough because as she flew over the gap to the next building, she was pulled to an abrupt stop with a tug on her ankle. Instinctively, she latched onto the nearest thing, which just so happened to be the smoke stack.

She didn't want to let go and give up, but as soon as her skin made contact with the metal, her flesh began to burn and she couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped her lips. Her reflexes acted on her own accord and she let go, which made her fall a few feet to the roof below, with Delsin still holding onto her ankle. She aimed a hard kick at his hand.

"I just want to talk!" he spluttered, letting go when his thumb bent backwards.

Not listening to him, she used her freedom to leap off the side of the building and levitate herself with the sound waves to the next one over. She thought that she had the upper hand, but he tackled her in mid-air and sent them both plummeting to the alley below. Now not only were her hands throbbing painfully, but the air was thrown violently from her lungs as she landed on her back.

Delsin used her shock to his advantage and grabbed her wrists, placing them above her head and straddling her hips to keep her from squirming as he pinned her to the ground. He leaned over her, panting and seeming relieved that he finally got her to sit still.

"I know a lot of girls like to play hard to get but sheesh...," he murmured. "Can't give a guy a break?"

"Get off me," she breathed, wheezing slightly from the lack of air in her lungs.

"No can do. Well at least not until you tell me who you are and why the D.U.P.s are so interested in you."

"I'm a bio-terrorist. Of course they're interested in me."

"It takes a lot of talent for someone to have their face so quickly recognized on camera. And it's conduit. We're not bio-terrorists. I already told you."

"Delsin?"

Her eyes snapped up when another voice entered the picture. She should have heard him coming, but she had been so focused on the man pinning her down that she couldn't even focus on the everyday noises around her.

This new man looked very similar to Delsin, but older and more uptight. The one thing she noticed right away was the patch on the shoulder of his jacket that indicated he was a cop. Red flags went off in her brain and she knew she had to get out of this. He could arrest her and she'd end up right where she didn't want to be.

"You can't just tackle a lady like that. What are you even trying to do?!"

"Calm down, Reggie, she's like me," Delsin replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Seriously? We came here to fix you, not run off and make friends with criminals! You know I have to turn her in now, right?"

Those words ignited a spark in her. She had to get out of here and fast. So she did the first thing that came to mind: knee him where the sun doesn't shine.

Her attack shocked and hurt him enough to make him loosen his grip and that was all she needed. As soon as he let go, she jumped to her feet and started for the wall of the building they originally fell from. She only made it to the edge before a gun cocked behind her and she froze in place, breath heavy as it left her lips.

"Stop! Put your hands up, now!"

"Reggie-"

"Put your hands up and turn around!"

Evelyn's mind raced. She had no idea how many bullets this guy had in his gun. Her faster healing would likely be able to keep her from dying immediately if she got shot anywhere vital, but headshots would put her down for good. Could she die before she got captured? Probably not. She was terrified of death and her cowardice would be her downfall. It had already caused the downfall of her best friend. Sooner rather than later, it would cause her own downfall as well. Given the situation, it probably came way faster than she intended it to.

"You have until the count of three!" Reggie boomed.

"Dude, will you hold on for a second?" Delsin tried.

" _One!_ "

Her heart started to pound faster as the thought of dying flashed through her mind.

" _Two!_ "

"Reggie, no!"

The noises were too overwhelming. Everything echoed inside of her brain, hindering her thought process. Even people laughing from several blocks down at the pier stood out clearly to her as if they were right next to her. Delsin and Reggie's arguing was the loudest of them all - deafening and crushing to her mind. She had to make a decision and fast.

" _Three!_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Here's chapter 2! Thank you guys so much for your support on the first chapter! Hopefully this chapter is a bit more exciting, as it introduces Delsin and Evelyn to each other. I'm really excited to keep publishing chapters and I hope you enjoyed this one! :)**


	3. Seattle Skyline

**Chapter 3: Seattle Skyline**

 _"Three!"_

As soon as he said it, she turned around and slowly raised her hands in the air. This man, Reggie according to Delsin, meant business. His gun was aimed right at her head and she was glad she turned around when she did. Delsin had a hold of the man, probably from trying to convince him not to resort to violence.

She took a moment to properly examine Reggie. His hair was slicked back and the same, dark brown as Delsin. Comparing the two height-wise, he was rather short but a little more stocky. His lips pulled together in a thin line and he stared at her with deep chocolate eyes that screamed justice. As her eyes wandered over his figure, she noticed something about the badge sewn on his jacket.

"Salmon Bay. You're not a cop here. You can't arrest me," she observed, unsure of whether to feel relieved or worse.

If he couldn't legally arrest her, that didn't mean he wouldn't try and kill her. Why was he running around this place anyway?

"No. But I have plenty of friends here in the city who would arrest you in a heartbeat. I've heard of you all over the place. Evelyn Hale. Notorious bio-terrorist thief. You've made quite a name for yourself," Reggie commented.

"Reg, will you just knock it off? She can help us," Delsin interupted, deciding to take a step between them so the gun was aimed at him.

This seemed to irritate Reggie because he lowered the gun immediately and gave him a sour look.

"Whoa, if he's the same as me, why won't you arrest him?"

"Perks of being a brother," Delsin answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Brothers? Now it made a little more sense. They both looked so much alike and the dynamic between the two definitely pointed toward brothers. It seemed pretty ironic that one of them was a cop and the other a bio-terrorist.

"You know I can and will arrest you," Reggie huffed, glaring at his younger brother.

"Yeah well...not this time anyway. Now come on, Reg. She can help us and I can keep her out of trouble yeah?"

"That's rich, considering you can't stay out of trouble yourself."

"Wait, who says I'm going to help you?" she jumped in. "I don't know who you are or what you want. You think I'm just going to magically help you because we're both bio-terrorists?"

" _Conduits_. And I already told you who I am. We're fighting for the same cause," Delsin tried, adjusting his beanie.

"I don't know what cause, but I don't care. I have my own problems to deal with. I can't be out in the open."

"Why are you even stealing? Doing what you do?" Reggie asked as she took a step back.

"It's really simple. I don't want to starve to death."

These words seemed to cause the gears to turn in Delsin's head because she saw a twinkle in his eye and the corners of his lips tugged into a smirk.

"Because I'm such a genius, I have a solution to all of our problems," he started, wriggling his eyebrows. "Evelyn, you can stay with us. Get a place to sleep, some food... You can stop stealing, Reggie won't have to arrest you, and you can help me out a little. See I'm not just all looks."

"Wait, wait, how can you just think that everyone is going to agree with this?" she questioned quickly, raising a dark eyebrow.

"She's right, Delsin, you can't just call all the shots and expect everyone to go along with it. I never agreed to having another conduit in the hotel! And do you know how easily it would be for the people there to recognize her?" Reggie raised an eyebrow, folding his arms.

"That...that won't be an issue! And she doesn't need your approval, I already said she could stay!" he countered.

Evelyn shook her head, taking a step back and trying to process everything. It was all way too much and she didn't even know what was going on right now. Was she dreaming? How could all of this be happening? She swore that in a few minutes she would wake up in an abandoned apartment building with Elijah snoring on the couch across from her and everything would be dandy.

But it didn't turn out that way. Minutes later, Delsin and Reggie were still arguing in front of her and she couldn't even bring all of her thoughts to make any sort of sense. She was overwhelmed and not left with many options.

"Just, just _stop_ ," she interrupted, pressing against her temples in frustration. "I don't know who you are. I don't have time for any of this. I don't have time to help you. I don't have time to be arrested. All I know is that the D.U.P.s took my best friend and it's _my_ fault. I don't know how I'm going to get him back or what to even do. This is wasting my time. So _please_ just _stop_."

Everyone fell silent. Even Delsin's cocky, brash attitude fell and the both of them simply stared at her. She was relieved that they stopped _talking_ because the noise had gotten too overwhelming and all she needed was silence. For once in her life, she just wanted to hear nothing at all. Sometimes, she would give anything to give up her powers. It was them that caused all of her problems in the first place. Maybe she could just have a normal life if they hadn't come.

"What's his name?" Reggie asked, his tone softer than before.

She was caught off guard. Mainly because she expected them to just leave and let her go. "Elijah. Elijah Banks... You've probably seen him... His face is plastered all over the place..."

"What can he do?"

"Nothing. He's not like me. They took him to try and lure me out."

"And you're going to let them do that?" Delsin braved, looking slightly angry now.

"Delsin-" Reggie tried.

"No. The D.U.P.s, they're making everyone terrified. The people can't go anywhere without fearing for their lives. They're taking everything away from us. We need to own these streets! We need to fight back!"

He started to pace, smoke and ash beginning to trickle off his form. And then he was gone. Just like that, he'd slipped up a vent and flew out of sight. Gone.

"Dammit, Delsin!" Reggie exclaimed with an exasperated sigh.

It was her cue to leave, then.

She pulled the black hood over her head and straightened herself out a bit to be more presentable and hidden for walking out and about on the streets.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" he asked, blocking her path before she could go out onto the streets.

"Please. I can't-"

"I know, but...Delsin he was...well...you can stay with us. We can help you find him. Look, I don't like all of this...conduit stuff. I just want my brother to be the way he was. But...I wouldn't want him to be taken away like your friend was."

Evelyn stood bewildered at the stranger in front of her. Minutes ago, he had been wanting to shoot her and arrest her, but now he was sympathizing with her. Maybe it was because she spilled on why she needed to keep going. He liked a sob story? Either way, it would be nice to have a cop on her side for once, even if he didn't exactly like who she was or what she was doing. And given the fact that she still had no idea how she was going to get Elijah back, it might help to have someone to help her through it.

She eyed him warily for a moment, still unsure on whether or not she should get involved with them at all, but in the end, she would do anything to find her friend.

"Okay. Thank you," she breathed, clenching her fists and trying not to hold her breath as the nerves crackled through her body.

"It's... Just follow me. I'll drive you back to the hotel."

With a shaky sigh, she followed after him, steps slow and hesitant. Things were changing so rapidly and it made her anxious. But there was no turning back at this point. She really did need the help.

Being out on the open streets after nearly being killed by the D.U.P.s scared her, but she just kept her head low and followed Reggie to the cop vehicle that he was driving around the city.

As she slipped into the front seat, a D.U.P. vehicle drove slowly by. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she ducked her head even lower to avoid being seen. But because she wasn't causing any trouble or showing her face, they continued on as if she wasn't even here. She wouldn't be surprised if several people walking past them were like her.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Reggie muttered to himself. "First Delsin becomes a conduit and now I'm driving a complete stranger to our hotel..."

He was trying to be quiet but failing miserably. Honestly, she didn't really care all that much because she was feeling somewhat similar. It sounded like both of their weeks had been going pretty poorly.

As they headed across the city, she tried to keep herself calm. Reggie continued to mutter nonsesical things to himself, which only fueled her stress because of the noise. She had a hard time keeping the noises at bay when she was stressed out and the noises only stressed her more. No matter what she did, they never left.

Eventually, they got to one of the less busy parts of the city near the water. Looking into the waves gently lapping at the shore eased some of her anxieties as Reggie parked the car in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn. Wordlessly, she unbuckled her seatbelt and slipped out of the car, stretching lightly for a moment as she waited for him to gather a few things from the back of the car.

"I'd tell you to keep your head down but I'm guessing you already know that," he commented as they started to the front entrance.

She merely replied with a nod and ducked her head as they entered into the lobby. A few people greeted them as they walked by the front desk, but she paid them no mind. She shoved her hands in her pockets and kept pace with her new associate until they got to the elevator. It was difficult inside since so many people were crammed against each other and she had to try not to look up at all in case any of them recognized her. Luckily, they got to their floor without any hiccups and soon enough, they were in the hotel room that he and Delsin - and now she - was sharing.

Because she was still slightly paranoid, she didn't take off her hood just yet and took a moment to briefly search the room for hidden cameras. Since the room was rather small, it wouldn't take her long. All she had to do was check the pastel pink walls and each of the queen beds across from the television.

"You don't have to. It's already been checked," Reggie assured, but she continued to look anyway.

He was being kind and allowing her to stay, but that didn't mean she trusted him very much. After all, he still was a cop, even if his brother happened to be a bio-terrorist.

Once she deemed the room satisfactory, she pulled her jacket off and took a seat at one of the chairs situated next to the little breakfast nook in the corner. Her muscles slackened and she took a moment to breathe. There wasn't any way she was going to cry in front of this man she barely knew, so she tried to let all of her emotions out by breathing deeply and focusing on a lamp across the room.

"Why don't you go ahead and take a shower? I can let you borrow some of Delsin's clothes. I would allow you to use mine but they're all uniforms," Reggie suggested, breaking the silence and her intense staring match with the lamp.

"Okay, thank you," she murmured, slowly standing as he turned to go through a very unorganized suitcase across the room.

She watched him as he tried to pull some things out that might fit her and the sight of boxers made her blush bright red. He put those aside and instead pulled out a red and black flannel and a pair of slim navy blue sweatpants.

"Here, these will probably be comfortable enough for you."

"Thanks..." She flashed him the tiniest of smiles and took the clothes gingerly in her hands. She felt incredibly weird about showering here in a hotel and putting on a pair of clothes that weren't hers, but she would go back and get her own clothes tomorrow.

Making her way to the bathroom, she closed and locked the door behind her. She set the clothes down on the sink counter and turned the shower on, fiddling with the settings until she found the perfect temperature. Grabbing a hotel washcloth, she stripped down and stepped under the stream of hot water. The sound of the water running was actually soothing to her unlike the other noises. Water always calmed her down, most likely because she had good memories with pools and with her family at the bay. Thinking about that just reminded her how much she missed her parents and wished that they were still alive.

A pang of sorrow settled in her stomach and she leaned her forehead against the shower wall, drawing in a shuddering breath. She could picture their faces so clearly, filled with terror because of the D.U.P.s and Augustine as they stormed into her house. Their screams were always the loudest - the ones that were branded permanently into her mind.

The stream of water suddenly felt too hot so she quickly finished washing before getting out. Wrapping a towel around herself, she proceeded to dry off before stopping to look at the fresh clothes waiting for her. She slipped on the sweatpants first, which were several sizes too big. As a solution, she tied the drawstrings as tight as she could and rolled the waist several times until the pant legs weren't touching the ground.

However, the flannel wasn't really a problem compared to the sweatpants. It was still just as big on her, but it kept her covered and actually felt really comfortable and warm. She took a quick look in the mirror to see exactly what it looked like on her as she dried her hair. Obviously too big, but it was the type of style she tended to like.

Flattening the flannel down a bit, she scooped her black hair over her shoulder and combed it out with her fingers. Once she was satisfied with all of the knots coming out, she put the towel back on the rack and tucked her old, dirty clothes under her arm. She swore she heard some talking - no arguing - coming from the bedroom when she neared the door. Slowly, she unlocked the door and then entered the bedroom, noticing that Delsin was back and he was in a heated argument with Reggie.

However, it was cut abruptly short when he noticed her presence and he took a moment to stare at her, probably wondering why she was wearing his clothes.

"I let her borrow some of yours, since all mine are uniforms," Reggie explained, lips set in a firm line.

"Cop man can't let her wear his privileged, honorary uniforms?" Delsin snickered, taking a few steps toward her. "It's been a while since I've seen a girl in my clothes."

This extremely flirtatious comment caused her to blush madly and she huffed in discomfort, trying to think of a witty comeback but drawing up a blank. She was usually very shy around guys when they made comments like that.

"Delsin, can you not flirt with every girl you see just this once?" his brother hissed, slapping him on the arm.

"Alright, alright!" he exclaimed, shrinking back after the attack. "So I guess that means she's not sleeping in my bed?"

Evelyn reached up and rested her head in her palms to cover up her embarrassment.

"Oh she's sleeping in your bed," Reggie started, causing Delsin to suddenly perk up and seem excited, "but you're sleeping in mine with me."

She peeked between her fingers, smirking into her hands as she saw his reaction to that statement.

"Ew, Reg! Seriously? Do you have to be such a buzzkill?"

"Well you can always sleep on the floor..."

"Fine, fine." He threw up his hands in defeat and sat down on the edge of the bed nearest to the bathroom, looking up at her and gesturing to the opposite bed. "Your royal bed awaits, your majesty."

Rolling her eyes, she took her place on what used to be Delsin's bed and tried to get a bit comfortable. A look out the window revealed how dark it had actually gotten since she got in the shower and she crossed her legs, taking a minute to look out of the window as the two brothers argued again.

Seattle was almost always gorgeous at night. And when it snowed in the winter, the Space Needle looked magnificent against the blanket of white.

She remembered when she was little, she would look out the apartment window and watch the snow fall while her parents made hot cocoa and laughed with each other in the kitchen. Sometimes, she would even get up and dance with her dad to the Christmas music. Even after the holiday season was over, they would still take the time late at night when she couldn't sleep to dance to music, often with her stepping on his toes and allowing him to lead across the room in circles.

At some point, she thought she heard Reggie say something, but she was so lost in thought that she let the comment fly by. The lights turned off, but it didn't break her from her trance as she stared at the Seattle skyline.

 _I promise I'll get you back, Eli..._

She repeated this over in her head until she slowly slipped into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry for the delay! My computer charger broke so I didn't have access to anything until a new one came in. But I got it so I can finally update again! Thanks so much for all of the support guys! It means a lot and I'm so glad you're enjoying this! I hope you liked this chapter and I can't wait to upload the next! :)**


	4. Mistakes

**Chapter 4: Mistakes**

Evelyn awoke with a start to the sound of police sirens. Every time she heard them, she had to be on guard. But then she realized that she was in the hotel room with Delsin and Reggie. There was no way the cops knew she was here. She was safe for now.

Turning over, she took note of the time. Half-past six. Early for her, but she didn't feel tired in the slightest.

The boys were still asleep. It was funny to see the way they both were on opposite sides of the bed as far away from each other as they could be. She never knew what it was like to have a sibling, but she always observed that many of them tended to bicker a lot like the two of them. They seemed to take it to the next level, but it made sense with the way both of them were. On one hand, Reggie was extremely stiff and unmoving. He played by the rules and did things the proper way. On the other hand, Delsin was free and flexible. He broke all of the rules and did things whether they were proper or not.

It was interesting how different they could be and still be related. Their dynamic made her curious about their home life and family, but at this point she wasn't really planning on befriending and getting to know them. They offered to help her and she was going to accept that help until she could get along on her own. She'd grown up quite independent and reserved.

Pressing her lips together, she got out of bed, figuring it might be a good time to slip across town and get her things from the abandoned apartment she and Elijah were staying in. She needed some new clothes, as she couldn't stay in Delsin's forever, no matter how warm his flannel was.

Quietly, she slipped her shoes on and headed toward the window. She made sure they were still sleeping before she slipped out the window and disappeared onto the roof. It was easier for her to travel across the rooftops since the D.U.P.s usually traveled on the ground in cars or by foot. Occasionally, she would come across them on roofs, but it was mostly on buildings really close to the city center where the main station stood.

The air was warm and she basked in it as she jumped from roof to roof, sometimes using her abilities to get across larger gaps when she was sure no one was looking.

In the rattier part of the city, she slowed and let herself slide down the fire escape of the abandoned apartment complex she and Elijah had been staying in recently. The window to their little abode was still open so she jumped inside and landed quietly on the peeling wood floor.

Everything was where she left it last and she slowly wandered toward her room, sighing gently as she took a glance across the hall at Elijah's room. The door was closed and she didn't think she had the strength to go inside and look through his things. So instead, she headed to her room and stopped in the doorway.

It felt so weird to be back here after everything that happened. It was quieter than she was used to, even with the usual noises outside.

Taking a step forward, she grabbed her backpack from beside the mattress plopped down on the floor. She usually kept about half of her things in the backpack and the other half in the closet across the room, just in case she had to get out of here in a hurry. Since she had a bit of time, she pulled the rest of her clothes and belongings out of the closet and stuffed them as best as she could into the bag. Her move would only be temporary. Soon enough, she would be back here with Elijah, laughing and complaining about his most recent tattoo or piercing that he didn't have the money for.

Evelyn picked up her final belonging, which was a picture of her and Elijah. Both of them were smiling at the camera and leaning against each other. He was the closest thing she had to a brother. In fact, he probably was her brother, even if they weren't related. She had been so lucky to find him and befriend him.

A creak behind her made her jump and she spun, eyes wide as she honed in on the figure in the doorway behind her. It was Delsin.

Her body relaxed slightly, but she was still a bit jumpy and she stared at him in bewilderment, realizing he must have been awake when she left and followed her here. She never wanted him to figure out this place where she stayed.

"You followed me here?" she asked, eyebrows creasing.

"I thought you were trying to bail," he answered, adjusting the burgandy beanie on his head.

"I just wanted to get my stuff..."

"Yeah I see that. So this was your place? A bit uh...but not bad." He started to walk around her room, stopping to examine some other photos she had taped to the wall.

"This Eric?" he asked, pointing to one of the photos.

"Elijah," she corrected. "And yes. Thank you for being nosy."

"Not being nosy if it's all over the wall." He smirked and folded his arms. "So, he your boyfriend? Is that why you need him back so badly?"

His nonchalant and cocky demeanor was getting her a bit irritated. "No. He was practically my brother, if you must know. Not everyone has the perfect life and luxury of family."

"No, they don't," he replied sharply.

It made her realize that she didn't really know as much about him as she thought she might. She only knew his name, his relation to Reggie, and his abilities. And that he was an arrogant rule-breaker. Maybe he only had Reggie and no one else. She didn't know his family situation.

Pressing her lips together, she stuffed some of the pictures into her bag and then turned, drawing in a heavy breath.

"Hey, there's something I should show you. If we're going to take on Augustine and her cronies, we could use it," he said suddenly, gesturing for her to follow.

Warily, she fell in line behind him, heading through the apartment and then back to the window. He went out first and she followed. They climbed up to the roof to get a better vantage point and she remained behind him, silently watching as he took a moment to look through something on his phone.

"Yes, there you are," he muttered, grinning a bit and then looking over his shoulder at her. "Race you there!"

Evelyn didn't even know where "there" was, but she wasn't intending to race him. Maybe she was a stick in the mud, but she was only doing what she had to teaming up with them. People like him, she usually stayed away from. They were too cocky and arrogant for her liking, plus she was more on the shy side and his flirtatious remarks and confidence clashed with her reserved and quiet nature.

So as he darted ahead, she followed at a more leisurely pace, not using her powers unless she really had to get across a large gap. He was showing off for sure as he swirled around in smoke and catapulted himself through vents. His whoops and shouts of exhiliration created more noise than she was comfortable with, but no one noticed them because of the early hours of the morning.

Soon enough, they came upon the city center of Seattle and she looked down into an alleyway where a small group of D.U.P.s crowded around what looked like a generator. Delsin crouched down, scoping out the situation for a minute.

"They'll be easy for the two of us to handle. Come on," he said with a cocky smirk before lunging down to land on one of them.

She remained stationary, unsure about attacking them. For what reason where they doing this? She hung back, letting him do the work. A few times, he turned his attention up to her, making a few comments and irritated remarks that she was leaving him to do all the work. But she wasn't the greatest fighter. She was always much better at running away and sneaking in and out of places.

Once he had taken care of the five D.U.P.s, she slipped down to land beside him.

"What the hell? Thought this was supposed to be teamwork?" he questioned. "Not like I don't like the spotlight, but seriously?"

"I don't fight when I don't have to," she said with a shrug, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, you just run?" he mocked, rolling his eyes and then kicking the generator-thing. "Maybe this'll help you. Break it."

She raised an eyebrow, not intending to do anything without an explanation.

"Just do it. Live a little," he pushed.

Narrowing her eyes, she bent down to examine the thing, noticing that it had the D.U.P. written all over it. Whatever it was, it had to do with them. Maybe it had something to do with their communications? Breaking it could cause them to lose some power in this district. The less power and control they had over the area, the easier it would be to get where they needed to be with ease.

Taking a step back, she focused her attention on the humming around her and faint noises of conversation on the streets. She squeezed her eyes shut and drew in all of that noise, soaking it up into her body until it was practically buzzing with sound waves. Her eyes shot open, her irises beginning to glow bright white as she sent a burst of sound at the D.U.P. technology in front of her. It completely shattered, the metal bending and flying off in random directions to reveal a bright blue glowing core beneath.

Slowly, her eyes changed back to their normal green hue and she straightened up, shooting a glance over at Delsin.

"Okay...so?" She raised her eyebrows in questioning.

"Touch it. You should be grateful I'm letting you have this one," he quipped, crossing his arms.

Evelyn sighed, slowly nearing it. Her hand hovered over the core and she could feel the energy radiating off it in waves, which made her slightly wary about touching it. But she healed quickly so if anything happened, she was sure she would be fine.

As soon as she pressed her palm to it, intense burning shot up her arm and into her spine, causing her to shout and cry out in pain. What had he led her to? She couldn't pull away as the energy coursed through her veins like lightning, causing every vessel in her body to glow bright white with hot electricity. Her hand was glued to the core like a magnet and she writhed in pain as her vision began to glow white. He'd led her to her death, she just knew it. Elijah would forever be in the D.U.P.'s grasp and there was nothing she could do about it now.

Finally, her hand detached from the core and she fell to the pavement, black engulfing her vision as heavy throbbing racked her entire body. She could faintly hear Delsin shouting something as everything faded out.

Deep in the back of her brain, she thought she was dead. And it seemed like a bright light was coming to confirm it. But the light slowly change into scenery. She could see herself standing in front of her in the middle of a street with hundreds of D.U.P.s surrounding her.

Her first instinct was to be terrified, but she couldn't move, only watch. The figure of herself summoned up something in her hand. It looked to be a white orb of some sort and it pulsated slowly. She wasn't exactly sure of what it even was, but she couldn't ask questions so she continued to watch, feeling trapped in her own body.

Mini her twirled the orb in her hand before tossing it into the large group of D.U.P.s. The orb shattered upon impact of the ground and then loud, screeching noises came blasting out of the shards, tearing through each of the D.U.P.s and knocking them unconscious to the ground. She summoned another and took care of the rest, but even after they were all down, more appeared. It was a repetitive motion - she summoned one of the orbs, threw it, the D.U.P.s went down, and then more appeared.

After several repetitions, the vision slowly began to fade into black and she became more aware of her surroundings. She could hear voices around her, arguing to be exact. The arguing seemed so familiar but it took a minute to hit her. Delsin and Reggie.

Her eyes flew open and she took in a breath, feeling extremely achy but also energetic at the same time. Whatever that thing that Delsin made her touch was, it had done something to her. She wasn't quite sure yet, but at least she was alive and not dead. If she was dead, she couldn't do what she had to do.

"Hey, she's awake. See, I told you she would be fine," Delsin said, gesturing toward her.

"You still put her at risk! Can you ever, for once, just stop and think about what you're doing before you do it?" Reggie snapped, turning to her. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

Evelyn slowly sat up, noticing that she was back in the hotel room. She passed out in the alley. Delsin must have carried her back or called Reggie to bring her. If they hadn't been there, she would have gotten picked up by the D.U.P.s for sure. But then again, if Delsin hadn't asked her to touch that glowing blue thing, she wouldn't have passed out in the first place.

It took her a moment to realize that they were both looking keenly toward her for an answer to the older brother's questions and she blinked, shaking her head and trying to focus. Her thoughts were still pretty jumbled and she kept thinking back to the weird vision she had while she was asleep. Did it even mean something? Why would she see herself tossing orbs of what seemed to be sound into a crowd of D.U.P.s? They were questions she needed to have answered.

"I'm...good. I think...," she trailed, her aching body pounding with the beat of her heart. "What was that...thing?"

"Core relay," Delsin explained, "Reggie's been sending me the locations. They help tap into your powers, make you stronger."

The whole thing suddenly clicked in her mind and she got to her feet, wobbling slightly only to be quickly caught by the eldest brother.

"Whoa, take it easy there," he instructed, holding onto her arm.

"I need to try something," she said with a shake of her head, pulling away from him and making her way to the window.

Without saying another word, she climbed through, stepping onto the fire escape and climbing up to the roof. She heard the other two following, but she ignored them, too focused on figuring out what she needed to know. Was this a new ability of hers? Was she even stronger than before? Only one way to find out...

She stopped at the edge, looking down on the streets below. There weren't any civilians right in front of the hotel, so she could test it out right here. So she closed her eyes and focused hard on the scarce amount of noises around her - mostly the whistling of the wind and the waves slapping against the rocks on the shore. Something about soaking up the noises made her feel stronger and more energized than before. The pounding in her head ceased and she didn't feel as achy and tired.

Using the noises, she closed her eyes and tried to envision exactly what happened in her dream. She could feel her body buzzing with noise as it traveled down her arms and when she opened her eyes, a white orb had formed in the palm of her hand. All of the noises of the waves and wind swirled around in the center of her palm and she stared at it in wonder for a brief second. It was amazing and something she hadn't seen before, but she was afraid she would lose it before she got to test it out. So she threw it right down to the sidewalk below.

Her eyes narrowed as it plummeted toward the earth and soon enough, it shattered on the ground, releasing ear-splitting noise that echoed on the whole strip of road in front of the hotel. This was new and definitely something she never thought she'd be able to do. She had no idea that she could advance her powers. She always wanted to get rid of them and while this was magnificent, she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it.

On one hand, she continued to be amazed at how beautiful and strong sound waves really were. She always took sound and noises for granted until she gained her abilities. But there was always the linger doubt in her mind. As long as she could remember after her parents dying, she wanted to get rid of these powers. They were more like a curse than a blessing. It made her sought after to be a prisoner and experimented on. And they were the cause of her parents dying and Elijah being taken.

Her eyes flickered up to Delsin, who stood with a large grin on his face. Reggie seemed slightly nervous and shocked at what exactly had happened. Part of her wanted to embrace the magnificence of it, but a larger part wanted it to be undone.

"That's pretty sweet," he commented, fiddling with the chain on his wrist,

She shook her head, lips curling into a small frown as she caught his gaze. "What have you done to me?"

* * *

 **A/N: So Delsin helped strengthen the powers of the girl who desperately wants to get rid of them. So helpful, Del xD Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys rock! Hope you liked this chapter!**


	5. Insufficient

**Chapter 5: Insufficient**

Evelyn hadn't exactly been pleased with Delsin since the incident. It had only been a day and she could feel herself stronger and more powerful than before. She didn't want it. She wanted to be rid of what she was. Being a bio-terrorist was part of her life now, but she always tried to suppress it as much as possible. Now that her abilities were stronger and keener than before, it was harder to ignore. And the noises, the noises got louder and more distinct that before. It was like she had to learn to cope with them all over again. Sleeping that night was difficult and by the next morning, she was exhausted.

Delsin ran off to go and try to find some more core relays after she blew him off that morning. He'd been a bit irritated, but most likely because she decided she would rather take up Reggie's offer of going out to lunch and coffee than running off with him to "upgrade" her powers.

She just didn't understand his draw to the powers that he attained. Half of the city would be running after him and he didn't even seem to care. It probably had to do with his seemingly rebellious nature. Either way, she didn't want to worry about trying to control new abilities, so she took up Reggie's offer and here she was, sitting in the passenger seat of the police car again to head to the local Latte Owl.

Today, it was pretty clear out and decently warm, but she couldn't take of her usual hoodie in fear of revealing herself. Reggie mentioned that Delsin had started to destroy the surveillance cameras in the area so it would make it a bit easier for them to walk around freely and try and get their goal accomplished. Despite their differences, she found herself liking Reggie. He was at least more even tempered and predictable than his younger brother.

Though he still didn't exactly approve of what she'd done in the past, he seemed kind enough to want to help her out and realized that she didn't exactly take pride in her abilities like Delsin did.

"Here we are," Reggie announced after he'd parallel parked.

Unbuckling herself, she got out of the car. She stretched lightly and made sure her face was covered enough before following the sheriff into the little coffee shop. Both of them ordered regular coffees and a few baked goods before sitting down at a spot near the window. It was slightly awkward at first, but luckily she didn't have to think of a conversation starter because he'd already come up with one.

"Sorry if Delsin is a little bit impulsive. He's always aired on the risky side," he started, picking at his croissant, "are you feeling okay after...?"

Evelyn warmed her hands on the Styrofoam coffee cup, nibbling on her lip for a moment before answering. "Yeah I'm okay. I just...I can feel its presence stronger. I don't like it..."

"I guess you're just not used to it. When did...you know...?"

"Oh um... I was young. Thirteen. It was really weird at first, but then I grew to like it. But after...things happened and I was on my own, I just...well it causes more trouble than good."

He nodded slowly, taking a sip of his coffee and looking out of the window, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, he spoke, looking slightly troubled. "I don't want Delsin to be like that. But I don't think there's a way to make it stop. I know not all of them are bad... One of them is my brother. But I've seen so many doing bad things... I wish it was a dream."

 _Me too._

She ducked her head slightly, eyes locking with the maroon color of the table. It had only been a few days since Elijah's kidnapping and yet, she was exhausted. Mostly because of worrying and the extreme shift in events.

"I know you might not want to talk about it but...what happened to your family?" Reggie asked suddenly.

Her family was always a sore subject. The only one she ever really spoke about it to was Elijah, but that took a lot of coaxing and trust-building. She barely knew this man and they got off on the wrong foot, but he was being friendly now and treating her like a real human being.

"They just...died. Because of me," she murmured quietly, not looking up to meet his gaze. "I don't really want to talk about it. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. If it...makes you feel any better, my parents...they died in a car accident when we were young. Delsin and I were raised by our tribe... We're Akomish. Been in a tribe since we were young. Our tribe leader, Betty, she became our mother. Got really close with Delsin. She's the reason we're even here. We had Augustine show up near us after a truck load of bio-terrorists crashed. Interrogated us. Hurt and killed a lot of our own. Betty's...hurt and the only way to stop it is using the way she was hurt to reverse it."

Augustine had hurt so many people. Not just her family, but now Delsin and Reggie's as well. She'd hurt even innocent civillians, who weren't bio-terrorists or even associated with them. It made no sense to her, since Augustine was also one of them. What was she trying to accomplish? Total control?

"I'm sorry... That woman has killed a lot of people who didn't deserve it."

Their conversation got rather quiet after that and the two of them ate and drank their coffees silently. She had always been rather shy and awkward with conversation, so she didn't really try to start it up again. But it only remained awkward and if there was one thing she hated more than speaking up when she was feeling shy, it was feeling awkward. So she forced herself to speak, deciding to pick a lighter topic than before.

"So how did you become a cop?"

He seemed to light up a little with this question, indicating his passion for the subject. "I always wanted to be a police officer. There was just something in me that wanted to help others. And when our parents died, it just... I guess strengthened that. As soon as I was able, I went in for the training and here I am. What did you want to do? You know, before all of this?"

She sighed gently, tracing her coffee cup and thinking. Part of her always wanted to be a musician, but that was more Elijah's dream.

"Honestly? I don't really know. I like music...but I don't know if I'd want to make that my career. Maybe a music therapist, though? I've always liked kids. Or a writer."

"You've got a creative mind, then," he commented.

"Yeah. Definitely," she agreed.

Before the could continue their conversation, a phone rang. Reggie reached for his pocket and pulled out the smartphone. She caught a glance of the screen, seeing that it was Delsin, before he picked it up. Judging by the reaction and responses of the man sitting across from her, she guessed he was looking for more core relays and needed the locations. She finished off her coffee and watched as Reggie tapped away some things on his phone to send the location to him. It reminded her that he didn't really want to do all of this, but they were trying to save their tribe. Time was precious.

"Hey do you think we can go back and try to figure something out...you know with my situation?" she asked suddenly, causing him to look up after hanging up with his brother.

"Yeah, might as well while we're waiting for baby brother to get back. Come on," he heaved, pushing his chair out and getting to his feet.

She smiled gratefully at him, taking her garbage to the bin and tossing it before following him outside. The ride back seemed a lot shorter, probably because she was anticipating what they were going to be doing when she got back. Delsin was nowhere in sight, so it gave them a little bit of peace and quiet to work.

"Okay so, I did do a bit of research on your friend the other day when you told me his name, but there wasn't much. Just the standard stuff that everyone has heard from the D.U.P. I think that if he's going to be anywhere, it's going to be the main control tower in the center of the city." Reggie sat down at the table, pulling his laptop in front of him.

She took a seat next to him, taking a mental note of what he was saying. The city center was full of D.U.P.s and it would be really difficult to get in there unnoticed. Going and shooting up the place would be suicide, but sneaking in was an option. A difficult option, but plausible if they worked hard enough and maybe even created a diversion.

"Okay. So if they're holding him there, we have to figure out how to get in. Ideas?" she asked, adjusting her ponytail.

"I think our best bet is to try and weaken the D.U.P. as much as we can before storming in. That means taking out any of the bases spread out across the city. It means there will be less back up to call on and they'll be forced to spread their assets thin. Delsin's already taken out a few, but I think you'll need to at least take out ten more before getting in the tower is even an option."

Evelyn blanched at the thought of having to actually go out there and use her powers. She knew that at some point she would need to come in direct contact with Augustine and the D.U.P., but she didn't think this early. Most of the time, she always tried to use her stealth to her advantage, but attacking the bases head on and destroying them was active action rather than passive action. The thought of it unnerved her and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"So a cop is telling me to break the law?" she spoke, raising an eyebrow and using the joke to try and mask her uneasiness.

"I know, I know. Despite what you might think, I may be willing to bend the rules a little bit to get this over with. But don't take it as a free pass. Getting into that tower won't just help you and your friend. It's likely Augustine is staying there and if Delsin can get some of her powers, we can leave this city and fix things back at home."

So he was mainly doing this for him, if she was reading between the lines correctly. Still, at this point it didn't particularly matter. As long as she could get to Elijah to free him, she didn't care if he was piggy-backing off her.

"Okay so...if I have to go out and fight the D.U.P.s...does it mean that I'm going to need to go out and collect the core relays like Delsin?"

"Not necessarily. I mean, it may bring an advantage, but I would advise against it," Reggie said, his lips forming a thin line and his expression more serious than before. "If it's the two of you, I think you should manage. Look I know I'm not a big fan of bio-terrorists, but...you're very powerful. With or without the core relays. I wouldn't be telling just anyone this and...I just think that you're different than the rest of the others out there. Don't give me a reason to regret helping you."

She blew some air out of her lips, trying to understand exactly why he went there in the first place, but ultimately dismissing it when she couldn't come up with anything. Neither of them really got a chance to say more because Reggie's phone went off once again and she sat back in her seat, figuring it had to be Delsin. She was right when the normal brotherly bickering began.

With a tired expression, she stood, heading to the bathroom in a quick decision to soak in some hot water and calm her nerves at the prospect of fighting. She turned on the faucet and let the hot water fill the tub as she stripped down and slid inside.

This was a lot to process. She could keep saying that all day long, but it was true. Who would have thought any of this was happening? And now, she had to face some of her fears and put herself directly in the line of fire in order to get to where she needed to be. Thinking about it was exhausting and taxing, but it was all she _could_ think about. This city was up in shambles because of the numerous new bio-terrorists roaming the streets and the D.U.P. were scaring the civilians into thinking they were monsters.

Well, some of them were anyway.

Everything seemed to sink in much faster like the water soaking into her skin. How could she even be doing this? Sure, she was getting help from Delsin and Reggie, but it seemed like it wasn't enough. She was so used to running away and hiding in her own shadow that this was all a shock to her. It seemed like she couldn't stop doubting herself and repeating the same thoughts over and over. It was exhausting and she wanted to sleep.

Unfortunately, she didn't get much more time to ponder over this because Reggie was banging on the bathroom door, calling for her to come out because of an emergency. So she quickly rinsed out the soap in her hair and got out, letting the tub drain and drying herself with a towel. She got dressed as quickly as possible before opening up the door to see him ramming things into a bag, including his gun.

"What's going on?" she asked, her heart speeding up a bit at the shift of atmosphere.

"Delsin found another bio-terrorist. She's been killing a lot of people. Drug dealers to be specific. He sent me some pictures and I was able to get some information on her. I think he's getting her right now. And I need your help," he explained, heading for the door.

"Wait, I can't… I don't do stuff like this!" she exclaimed, stopping in the doorway.

"Look, Delsin likes to do things he really shouldn't. I can't keep a rein on him to keep him in line because he's my brother. But someone else might. I don't need him going out of line. We're helping you, so you help us."

She was surprised by the sudden snappiness in his tone. The whole day, he had been rather kind and understanding, but now he was being a bit demanding and bossy. She equated it to him just being worried about the situation with Delsin, but it still didn't give him the right to snap at her like that. She supposed she should be grateful for his help, but she still wasn't ready to trust them enough just yet. For now, she would tag along and try to stay out of the way, hopefully for the entire time.

With pursed lips, she followed after his quickened pace, sliding into the elevator and waiting for it to hit the bottom. Reggie was out the door before she could even blink. With a small sigh, Evelyn picked up her pace and got into the car.

"Where is he?" she asked, barely having the time to buckle before he was taking off at a most likely illegal speed if he wasn't a cop.

"He said he's be waiting for her at Olaf's, but the tracker on his phone is showing him darting all around the area. He's chasing after her, I think. Probably got a hold of her powers. He's a sponge. Soaks up the powers of whoever he touches. You're lucky he hasn't tried to steal yours yet," he huffed, turning on the sirens so he could weave through traffic a little more quickly.

"How long was I in the tub?"

It had darkened a little bit outside, the sun setting and casting a slightly red hue across the mostly black sky.

"Hour or so? Wasn't keeping track."

They suddenly swerved around a car stopped at a red light and she rammed her side into the car door, wincing lightly at the sudden pain in her elbow.

"Sorry," he apologized, slowing down just a little bit.

She shook it off, rubbing her elbow lightly. At least the pain didn't last as long because of her abilities. Otherwise, she would be sure to have shooting pain in her elbow throughout the trip.

As they neared Delsin's location, Reggie turned off the sirens and parked on a street across from one that looked as if the roof had caved in. That had to be them, or else she was just that stupid.

"Guessing that's them?" she queried, opening up the door and taking a moment to look at the building that was now in shambles. How much destruction could they do in one night?

"Yes. We need to hurry. They've got each other cornered."

He moved across the street more quickly than she did. She was wary about the situation and wasn't sure if it was the best idea to even get involved. But she knew there was no stopping Reggie and she had to at least follow him inside. If he wanted her to get in the fight, she was going to decline. She could barely fight a D.U.P. let alone another of her kind.

They arrived at the back door, which was barely even able to be opened because of the way it was propped and bent from the fighting inside. Reggie used all of his strength to lift it out of the way and she was actually surprised by his strength.

She slipped through the little doorway that was half-blocked by a beam from the inside, but was easy enough to get past. Reggie never slowed down for a second and even she had a difficult time keeping up, mainly because she was hesitant about going in there. But soon enough, they arrived to the main part of the building where Delsin and this new conduit were fighting. Or where they were both laying on the floor.

Debris littered the floor, mostly neon signs from the top of the building. A couple here and there were lit, but most of them were drained from all of their light. Given the fact that Delsin's palms were glowing a bright pink, it seemed like he picked up a new power from this. What would controlling light - or neon - even be helpful with? Then again, how did controlling sound waves help with anything? Maybe besides causing everyone to become deaf.

She stayed back, eyes darting between the three of them as Reggie ran forward to apprehend the new bio-terrorist.

"I know just where to put filth like this," Reggie breathed, keeping his brother steadied. "Somewhere where Augustine won't find her and she won't be hurting anybody else."

"Hey, no no no... She's just killing drug dealers, man," Delsin explained.

"Killing? Delsin, _murdering_ drug dealers."

"What do you think I'm doing to the D.U.P.?"

"What you _have to_ to save Akomish back home!"

There was something in his tone that scared her a little bit. He was only doing all of this because it was his brother. His family. His people. Would he turn on her if she got in the way of that? It suddenly hit her that this wasn't what she was supposed to be doing. This wasn't what she _needed_ to be doing. She couldn't trust anyone. Even these people who said that they would help her. Reggie was so desperate to save his own.

"No man. She stays free," Delsin clarified, shaking his head and stepping past his older brother.

"No. Dude, no way," Reggie grabbed his brother by the shoulders, "look, just because you have the same affliction, not gift, _affliction_ , doesn't mean we're going to pick up every little piece of trash we find."

"But what about Ev? We picked her up. You're calling her trash? You're calling me trash?"

A glance was shot in her direction and she clenched her fists, taking a few steps back and debating on whether she should run for the door and separate herself from these people once and for all.

"She's not killing people, Delsin. She's trying to live normally. And I'm never going to abandon you, alright? Not ever. This one goes in a cage," he answered.

At that moment, the pink-haired woman decided to bolt, but she wasn't quick enough. Reggie grabbed onto her and she struggled to get free. Delsin stood in between, unsure of what to even say to get his brother to let her go free.

"Ev...you're with me on this right? She's like us, she's...," he started, turning toward her and trying to get her to side with one of them.

"No, Evelyn, she's not like you. You're not a murderer!" Reggie countered.

This only caused the brothers to break out into an argument, both of them shooting comments back at her to try and get her to agree while practically going at each others throats. Everything was coming in on her fast. Delsin's voice. Reggie's voice. The girl's struggling grunts. The fire crackling, the cars speeding outside, the conversation of passerbys...

Her hands slapped against her ears and she winced, willing the noises to go away but no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't leave her. A scream rumbled in her chest but it never left her lips because she couldn't. She was frozen in place, trying to block out the noises and voices screaming in her head.

A hand on her shoulder steadied her and she blinked open her eyes, her surroundings rushing back to her in an instant. One distinct voice out of all of them echoed in her mind.

 _"She'll be my responsibility! Both of them!"_

Those two sentences brought her spiraling back into the real world and the voices quieted. Slowly, her hands lowered from her ears and she stared at Delsin as he stepped forward, claiming responsibility for the both of them.

"Yeah, because responsibility is not exactly something you excel at!" Reggie countered.

"I got this."

The older brother shoved the woman toward them, causing her to stumble back as she bumped into her.

"Fine. I'm here for the tribe, not to haul in bio-terrorists," he spat, narrowed eyes shooting all three of them a nasty look.

"I'm a conduit!" the woman corrected, seemingly exhausted.

"He's...cool. He's normally cool, just not today...," Delsin breathed, watching as his brother left, not even sparing them a glance.

"Let's...let's talk."

A small silence settled between them and she used it to try and process what had just happened. Reggie was leaving them to do their own thing...turning his back on them. Delsin was taking responsibility of the two of them... Something she never even asked for.

"Ev...are you coming?"

Her head snapped up at Delsin's voice and she looked at him, waiting a few steps away with the woman. She had to make a decision. Either leave to do this on her own, or go with him and get help. Reggie wasn't an option anymore. His tunnel-vision and hostility to those like her, despite their nice lunch time, was just too dangerous.

All her life, she'd had someone to help her. Except when she was on her own before she met Elijah. It wasn't a long period of time, but it was still long enough and she hated those memories the most. She couldn't do things by herself. She was too weak. It was why she ran when Elijah was taken rather than fight. If she didn't have someone to latch onto and help her get through it, she couldn't survive. What was she going to do if she went off by herself and tried to finish this? She wouldn't be able to do it. But Delsin...and this woman now...they could help her get through it.

Her lungs filled up and she locked her green eyes with his brown ones, her mind made up. "Yeah...yeah."

* * *

 **A/N: Long time no see! Have been insanely busy even though these chapters were pre written, I haven't really been online much. But hoping to start writing and updating again. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thanks so much for reading and reviewing! :)**


	6. Drug Bust

**Chapter 6: Drug Bust**

As soon as Evelyn made up her mind, the three of them headed outside to go and talk. They climbed up to the nearest roof and settled down on the edge, overlooking the night streets of Seattle. She rather liked the city at night and it made her feel a little more at ease for the looming conversation ahead of them. With her decision, it meant she was going to work with Delsin to try and get to Augustine. Both of them needed to get there.

"I'm Fetch, by the way," the pink-haired woman spoke, crossing her legs and peering at her. "Evelyn, right?"

"Yeah...uh nice to meet you," she said, nodding slightly and settling on the edge of the building.

"Likewise. So um...you two have been clearing up the D.U.P.?"

"Uh...more him, really."

Delsin got comfortable next to them and nodded, pulling his legs up to lean against them. "Yeah. We're trying to get to Augustine. She's taken something from us... Only way to do that is clear the streets of the D.U.P.s and work our way up."

"And you want me to help?" Fetch clarified, raising an eyebrow.

"It'd be pretty nice if you did," she commented.

"Look I'm really glad that you didn't have your buddy back there take me in but...if you're going to Augustine, I can't help you."

Her stomach sank. The more people they had to help get to that dreadful woman, the better off they were. Delsin seemed a bit surprised by this as well, probably because he couldn't believe that someone didn't want to take down Augustine for all that she'd done to people like them.

"Hey, my brother thinks I'm being responsible for you... I can only keep him from arresting you if you at least...you know, help us out a bit." He shrugged, adjusting his beanie.

A thick silence hung in the air as the pink-haired woman took in his words and looked down at her lap, her chest heaving in a sigh. "Alright. I'll help you get around. But when you get up to Augustine, I'm bailing."

That was at least acceptable. Not ideal, but acceptable. Hopefully with their combined work it would make the task easier. She was a rather rusty and under trained with her abilities, so working their way up would probably help her to increase her ability to fight and take on these larger tasks. Delsin seemed under trained as well, but he had more experience than her so she would have to learn from him.

"Alright. That's fair," Evelyn agreed.

"Good. But I still need you to do something for me. Tonight," Fetch interceded, folding her arms.

"And that would be...?" Delsin raised an eyebrow.

"I need you to help me break up a drug trade. It's a big one, a really big one. And I'd need all the help I can get. Would you do that for me?"

Delsin scratched his nose and shot a glance over at her before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah we got you."

"Thank you. It's supposed to go down soon. I gotta head back to my crib and get something, so why don't you two go ahead and head to the harbor? I'll meet you there soon and you can call me if you get held up." She pulled out her phone to exchange numbers, of which Evelyn couldn't do because she didn't have one.

Once the numbers had been exchanged, Fetch hurried off, just leaving her and Delsin once more.

"Alright, better head over. You wanna lead? Everything's still a bit new," he said with a shrug.

"Sure. But we should stick to the roofs. D.U.P.s aren't as active at night but they still wander around."

She leaned over the edge of the building to get a brief look before leaping over the edge and dashing in a swirl of white to the next roof. As they went from roof to roof, he remained close behind, occasionally whooping with adrenaline. He was so different about his abilities than anyone she ever met was. She was always believing that she was cursed and it always seemed like the bioterr - uh, _conduits_ \- on the news seemed to hate who they were. Never did she really consider her abilities something to be desired.

She decided it wasn't exactly the best time to get lost in thought so she shut those thoughts out and focused on where they were going and soon, they reached the harbor. It seemed unusually busy today, so she decided the best thing to do was to reside on a rooftop across the street and scope the place out while they waited for Fetch.

A few minutes passed without any sign of her, so she took a seat with her back against one of the decorative outcroppings.

"So you know I never learned exactly what your powers were," Delsin broke the silence, sitting across from her.

She pursed her lips, figuring she might as well try and trust him if they were going to be doing this all together. "I manipulate sound waves. Concentrate them enough to fly, to use them as a weapon..."

"That sounds...kinda awesome? There's sound everywhere, it's like you don't even need to recharge."

"It's...not all it's cracked up to be. You can't...stop the noise. Ever."

"Yeah but doesn't everyone have to deal with that?"

"No. Everything to me is...amplified. I can hear things from blocks away," she explained.

"Oh...how do you cope?"

She sighed lightly, looking up at the stars for a moment and shrugging. "You just get used to it. Learn to block it out."

A small silence settled between the two and she looked over at him. He was seemingly thinking, trying to figure out what to say, maybe. He was always the talkative guy since she had met him. But to her surprise, he actually decided to stay silent and didn't say anything. Alright, well it wasn't that bad. Silence was always soothing to her anyway, even if she could still hear the echos of voices blocks away.

However, the silence was cut short when his phone rang, which she suspected was Fetch. He put it on speaker and scooted closer to her so they could both hear, though she didn't really need it.

"Hey look, guys the trade is going down now. I got caught up so I'm not gonna be there right away and I need you guys to find the boat houses with the drugs and mark em," she explained, seeming out of breath.

"What did you get caught up with?" Delsin asked, a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"I had to get the time out of this no good, drug scum. Now hurry, these things go down fast. I'll cover you when I get there."

Evelyn took a glance down at the dock, a twinge of nervous energy leaking into her bloodstream. This was going to be her first time being on the offensive with her powers.

"Alright, got it. See you soon," Delsin said, hanging up. "Come on, let's get down there."

She nodded slowly, waiting for him to go first before charging after him. Landing on the ground quietly, she sprinted forward, heart beginning to hammer in her chest as they approached the dock. Everything seemed alright and it was actually really beautiful out tonight, but as they got further onto the dock, they were spotted. Gunshots began to fire and she ducked behind a little shack, wincing as the bullets flew their way.

"Shit! What do we do?" she exclaimed, shooting a frantic look at Delsin.

"We fight! If we split up, it'll be faster to find the stashes. You head further in and I'll handle it here!" he decided, pressing his back against the wall of the shack.

"No!" she blurted, unable to hide the fear in her voice. "I don't...I don't really know what to do yet! I need to stick with you."

"Aghh! Alright fine! Just fire at the bad guys and keep a look out for the stashes!"

Even though she was still fearful, she felt better that she was going to stay with him. Now she just had to muster up the courage to move out of cover and start fighting back. He was doing so with no trouble, still charged up with the powers he stole from Fetch. His phone rang again and he ducked back into cover to answer and put it on speaker.

"I'm on the roof, I got ya covered!" Fetch shouted. "It's a big trade so there should be more than one stash! Probably three."

"Gotcha. You're not gonna come down and help?" he hissed, holding his shoulder as a bullet grazed it.

"I'm better up here."

Evelyn blew out a deep breath and listened carefully. The footsteps of one goon were heading closer, on her side too. Fetch and Delsin were still arguing over the phone and she couldn't rely on him. She had to do this herself.

She inhaled, soaking up all the noise that was being caused by her two fellow conduits and formed a ball of sound waves in her hands. When she was ready, she tossed it right to the side and it landed right at the feet of the dealer. As soon as it landed, it exploded in a flurry of shrieks and shouts, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground. Part of her was so relieved. She'd actually done it. But then there were more. More they both had to take care of before they could search through the first couple boat houses.

The sound was all around her. It would be easy to harness, she just had to bring up the courage to move from her spot and fire back. Delsin was doing it with ease and cockiness. Why couldn't she?

With this thought in mind, she sucked up enough sound to fire a quick shot when she poked her head out of cover. She missed her mark, but given this was the second time she actually helped tonight, she found it increasingly easier to continue and shot a few more before she actually hit her mark.

"Atta girl!" Delsin shouted with a small smirk.

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help but feel a little accomplished. This was her first...well fight. And she was actually not hiding the entire time. She was helping.

The confidence spurred her on and the two of them continued to shoot back with Fetch's help until they were all unconscious.

"Let's go ahead and check the houses," he breathed, not wasting a second to go ahead and jump from the dock to the deck of the boat house.

She followed suit, shaking her hands out and searching for anything that might seem typical of a drug deal. As she rounded the back, she noticed a large stack of coolers. That seemed a bit sketchy. So she opened up one of them and sure enough, a large stash of drugs was packed away inside.

"Delsin! Found one!" she shouted, which caused him to come running to take a look.

He nodded upon seeing the drugs and then gestured for her to follow up to the deck. "Got one, Fetch. I'll mark it for you."

"You're just looking for any excuse to tag, aren't you?" the pink-haired woman snorted, causing Evelyn to laugh.

Pulling out his spray cans, he started to spray. "You just don't know art when you see it."

"Never said it wasn't art," she pointed out. "She just said you were obsessed with it."

"I just _happen_ to think it brighten things up a little. Would you rather see a plain wall, or a piece of art?"

"Everyone's perception of art is different," she added, causing him to scowl.

"Stop being _logical_ and loosen up."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, watching him work. It didn't take him very long to spray a little dog with a target in his mouth. Good enough, she'd be able to see that.

"You'll be looking for two more. I can see a bunch more of the dealers on the other side of the dock," Fetch said, interrupting them.

With that, the two of them were headed over to the other side of the dock. She was right, it seemed incredibly infested with dealers. She ducked down behind a pile of boxes and peered over, trying to think of a strategy.

"So I think if we use stealth to go around and-"

She never even got to finish because Delsin was barging right to the center of the fight, shooting at the first guy he saw. Her stomach twisted and she shook her head, sighing lightly and deciding to hang back and shoot when he came under too much fire. This time it was a little more tricky since there were more goons and she could barely move from cover to shoot. At one point, one of them even grabbed her from behind and she had to wrestle her way out of his grip and hold him down with a burst of sound waves.

The attack sent her reeling and her anxiety came back in full swing, making her want to run. The urge was strong, but she resisted, simply sinking down to the ground in cover and trying to steady her breaths. She heard Delsin yelling somewhere further away and knew he was calling her out.

 _Okay...okay you can do this, Ev..._

She jumped up again, eyes honing in on the nearest dealer. Her aim was shaky, but she managed to get him after a few tries. It was a continues duck and shoot motion, but again, they were able to get through all of them. A look down the rest of the dock revealed that there didn't appear to be anymore and she let out a sigh of relief.

Their smoke friend had already appeared to find another stash just a dock away and was about to tag the wall when he paused. She heard a screaming coming from inside.

"Wait!" she shouted as he jumped down to open up the door.

As soon as he did, a woman scantily dressed came running out of the building, seemingly terrified. At least she was now safe.

"You go ahead and look for the last one, there aren't any more around so you should be alright," Delsin assured, tossing her something.

She barely caught it, but did nonetheless. It was one of his spray cans to use to mark the boat house. Okay well... Giving him a nod, she twirled the can in her hand and then headed further down the dock. There were only a few other houses left to check.

The largest one was clear and the one after that was as well, but she got to the last one and lo and behold, there was a drug stash. So she climbed up to the deck and stood across from the wall, trying to decide what to spray there. She could just do a nice big "X", but she knew Delsin would complain about it. The can he gave her was red, so she had to do something with red.

Never had she really tried to be artistic, so she didn't know if she really was, but for some reason, a thought came to mind and she just went with it. She shook the can and then started to spray, taking a minute to get adjusted to the paint flow. Moving quickly, she drew two birds as best as she could, though she was unable to do much with just one color. When she was finished, she took a step back.

"What's that supposed to be?"

Delsin came up beside her and she handed him the can, crossing her arms.

"Two birds. You know, kill two birds with one stone. Or...you know, one laser blast," she explained, shrugging.

He hummed in appreciation of the clever idea. "Not bad, not bad. You know, you should start tagging. You've got some artistic abilities."

He bumped his shoulder with hers, throwing her off balance because she wasn't expecting it. Steadying herself, she shrugged.

"Ahh I dunno. Not really the tagging type. Plus it's illegal," she pointed out.

"Well...we're technically roaming the streets illegally."

Yeah, that was true. But still, that was just to stay alive. Maybe she could more appreciate tagging if it wasn't on random street buildings.

"Alright, let's get back to Fetch. She's probably waiting for us to get out of the way," she murmured.

"Yes, she is!"

Oops, she was still on the phone. She couldn't help but smile just a little and she leaped down from the deck of the boat house, starting to make her way across the dock with Delsin trailing behind. They got to the main dock with no problems, but as they got near Fetch's location, another group of dealers confronted them. She swore and took cover just as a bullet nearly skimmed her arm. Were these guys ever going to give up?

This time, the amount of dealers was considerably less and Delsin's aim was improving so they were able to take them out pretty quickly. She noticed she was getting progressively better as well, though she still remained in cover most of the time as opposed to him, who got himself right in the middle of the scuffle.

Still, she was feeling better about this whole thing, though she knew as soon as she would have to start fighting the D.U.P. that it would be a whole different story. For now, she was just going to think about this fight, which ended abruptly when Fetch shot down the last guy. The whole dock was littered with unconscious drug dealers at this point. It would have been comical had they not been the cause.

"Meet me on the roof across from the dock! We can finish this," Fetch instructed, a small glow coming from up high to show where she was.

The two of them headed to the light, ignoring the civilians giving them weird looks. She got herself to the top with her sound waves while Delsin ran up the wall with neon. The pink-haired woman was waiting for them, seemingly excited to destroy these houses.

"Stand back a little." She gave them a slight smirk and then readied herself before shooting a powerful pink laser at the first boat house.

It exploded in a burst of color, almost like their very own firework show. Each house lit up the same way, but with different color fire igniting each on the first impact. She had to admit, the woman's powers were rather beautiful.

"Now we just gotta wait for the truck. Should be here soon," she said, wiping her hands on her pants and settling down.

"I think I'm gonna take a nap. Gotta get my beauty sleep," Delsin murmured, flashing them a grin as he laid back on the roof.

Fetch rolled her eyes. "Just be ready to get moving."

He gave her a thumbs up and then went silent. Evelyn decided to settle down as well, relieved for a bit more time to relax. She was surprised to hear Delsin's snoring moments later and she shook her head lightly, not knowing how he could fall asleep so quickly.

"So how exactly did you meet D?" Fetch spoke up after a moment, keeping her voice slightly low.

She decided to scoot a bit closer to the other woman so they could talk a bit more freely. "Ah well... I bumped into him a few days ago. I think he was trying to be all smooth... I kept telling him to get back. My um...my friend was taken by the D.U.P. a few days prior and I had to keep my head low, you know? My face isn't exactly secret around here. But he kept following me and I got confronted by the D.U.P. I eventually got away but, he wasn't letting me go. His brother confronted both of us, let me stay with them for a day, but... I think his interests aren't in my best interest."

The pink-haired woman nodded slowly. "So, I guess you're trying to get your friend back...?"

"Yeah. He's been my best friend for a while now. Understood me when no one else would. It was my fault he got taken away and...well I gotta get him back. I didn't really want to get anyone's help... Didn't expect it. But I kinda figured out that I'm not so good at this stuff and...yeah."

She took a minute to look at the sky, seemingly thinking over something before she nodded. "Yeah I've been trying to do the solo thing... But uh... I'm realizing that it's kinda nice to have some help."

Their likeness revealed itself in that moment and she felt connected to her. She knew there were others out there like she was, but she never really sought them out. Her only friend had been Elijah and she thought he was all she needed. But now that she was meeting others, even if not by her choice, she was finding it wasn't such a bad thing. Her reclusive self had been holding her back.

"You know, I think you and I... We'll be good friends," Fetch commented. "And your style is good enough for me to associate myself with you."

Evelyn couldn't help but laugh at that. "Ah well your style is good too. Did the pink hair come before or after?"

"After. But you know, as a teenager I always-"

A loud screeching of tires interrupted them and she leaned over the edge to see what it was. A truck.

"It's them. D, wake up!" Fetch exclaimed, reaching over and whacking him lightly on the leg.

He startled awake mid-snore and sat up, fixing his beanie that had slipped slightly, almost revealing some of his hair. She got to her feet and watched for a moment before the truck started to move.

"Follow me and stay out of sight," Fetch murmured, turning on her heel and jumping to the next roof in a blur of pink.

Delsin still seemed somewhat sleepy and Evelyn patted him on the shoulder before following after the woman. It was much easier to stay out of sight with the rooftops and she didn't cause bursts of pink light every time she flew so she wasn't all that worried about being spotted.

They got a few blocks away before the truck stopped in an alley and a group of dealers waited on the ground for it to be unloaded. Fetch seemed to be itching to get involved and started firing as soon as the driver got out of the truck. She remained slightly hesitant again, though she tried to remember that she had been fine at the dock and this was less people. Even sleepy Delsin was joining in and she steeled herself and decided to maybe take a page out of her new friend's book and work as a sniper of sorts.

It was a good idea she had because she caught many of them off guard. The men had only seen the other two and she was able to whip up a few sound grenades - a new acquired ability of hers thanks to Delsin's core relay - and take a good amount out. A few times, she got snagged with bullets, but healed quickly. All ten of them were unconscious within minutes and she slid off the roof, landing roughly next to the truck.

A loud banging from the truck came from her right and she looked up, taking a moment to listen to the cries of help coming from inside. She quickly rounded the back as the other two came forward.

"Someone's in there," she said, causing Delsin to roll up the door.

A small group of prostitutes were huddled together in the back with the stash of drugs behind them.

"Alright ladies. C'mon, let's go. Yes the bad men are gone," Delsin said, moving aside to let them get out. Go. Live. Love... Just not professionally."

She watched as the women ran off and Fetch called out to them.

"If you want to get clean, now's the time! There won't be any more drugs on the street! Don't screw it up! And...they're gone."

Evelyn stretched lightly and turned to lean against the truck as the pink-haired woman slid down from the roof and took a seat next to Delsin.

"You think a couple of low-life bio-terrorists will ever get thanked for saving people?" he asked, staring into space as he pondered his own question.

It was a good one. All her life she'd been looked at as a freak. She never really thought it would change but...

"Yeah... I think you might have saved me," Fetch murmured, smiling bashfully at him and then coming to her side to nudge her. "And her, though she won't admit it."

Evelyn rolled her eyes and shook her head, though didn't deny the fact. She didn't think he saved her, per se...

He raised an eyebrow and stood, seemingly curious. "Oh really? So what, you're going to give up on your whole ritualistic murdering of drug dealers? It's like half your charm."

"Oh yeah? So what's the other half?"

"Actually that was it. Your...just the one...charm."

"Classy," she commented while Fetch leaned toward him.

"Don't worry, I'm not giving up on my passions. Just...finding new ones," she breathed, then balling her hand into a fist and striking him in the gut. "Like boxing."

Delsin groaned, clutching his stomach. "Was that your whole attempt at like a tender moment? Help me out, Ev, she needs to work on that, doesn't she?"

She put her hands up in surrender, not wanting to get in the middle and took a step back.

"Pft. Passive as always. You know, you're too much of a people pleaser. The rebel kind, ya know? And Fetch...you're just a sentimental psycho-path."

The other woman rolled her eyes and gestured for them to come over. "Come on, just help me with these."

Evelyn hopped on board and knelt down to collect a duffel bag.

"You know, I think you like me. Both of you," Delsin mused, eliciting a laugh from Fetch's lips.

Maybe. Maybe that wasn't such a far-fetched statement.


	7. Confrontations

**Chapter 7: Confrontations**

The night had been spent at Fetch's place and she was actually rather grateful because she didn't want to go back to Reggie. He had been nice at first, but when his true intentions came out and he realized his brother was siding with the conduits, he showed his true colors. He hated conduits and the only reason he loved Delsin was because he was his brother. Honestly, she didn't blame him because everyone's views of them were twisted by Augustine and the D.U.P.

Fetch hadn't been around when they left, but a quick phone call revealed that she had been out on the streets dealing with the dealers. That left them with an open day of opportunities to find out more information that they needed to get to Augustine. But of course, something else was on Delsin's mind...

"Hey, we have all day and we gotta wait for Reggie so...help me do a tag? The people here need a little something to get them fired up," he offered, raising an eyebrow and then nudging her with his hip. "Come on, girl. You need to loosen up and do something a bit rebellious. Cops are already looking for us anyway."

Evelyn huffed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was now day three she was spending with Delsin and he was so much different that she was. Of course, she always had a bit of a mischievous side, but it only really showed around Elijah. She knew him and felt comfortable with him which was why she let that side of her show. She barely knew Delsin and wasn't exactly comfortable with him yet, but...

"Come onnnnn. You had enough fun yesterday tagging the side of the boat house. As soon as Reggie calls, we'll head out. It's not like there's anything better to do," he pleaded, pulling the hood over her head in a teasing way.

"We could be looking for more leads," she added, just to get under his skin a little.

"Yeah but by the time we find something, Reg will have already called us. You gonna make me pick you up and carry you? Haven't carried around a girl in a while..."

"Alright!" she blurted, feeling her face flush. "Fine, let's go tag. No carrying."

He smirked and gestured her to follow, earning him a roll of her eyes as she picked up a quick pace to follow after him. Before they even left Fetch's place, he hid his stash of tagging stuff and she was sure that was where they were headed. She was deemed correct when they approached the alley where he hid his backpack. He took it from behind the dumpster and shouldered it, flashing her a grin.

"Got a perfect idea. Come on."

The two of them made their way across the street to a nice open stretch of cinder-colored wall. Once they got there, he pulled his backpack down and set it on the ground, shuffling through it before pulling out a couple large sheets of paper-like material and a pencil.

"Gotta make the stencil. Watch my back, will ya?" He winked at her as he spread the paper down on the ground in front of himself.

Crossing her arms, she stood at the edge of the sidewalk, watching a few other people walk by and look over to see what they were doing. No cops. Every once in a while, she glanced over her shoulder to see the progress and more piles of random cutouts she didn't understand kept piling up. But soon, they were ready and he started taping the first one down.

"Hey, can you hold the other corner?" he asked, his voice muffled by a strip of tape clamped between his teeth.

"Got it," she snorted, heading to the other side and standing on her tippy toes to try and hold it up as much as she could.

He chuckled at her height and bumped his hip into hers after he taped up the corner opposite. "You can let go."

Evelyn huffed and let go, taking a step back to watch him start tagging, but he shook his head and handed her the can, a can of black.

"Nuh, uh, you're up. You get the main stuff, I'll do the finishing touches," he explained.

"Fine, fine," she said with a roll of her eyes.

She shook the can vigorously and took a step back as she pulled the lid off. Just like last night, she started to spray, though this time keeping in the realm of her sheet of paper. The chemical, nail polish smell of the paint filled her senses and for once, the misting sound of the paint seemed to block some of the other sounds out, which was refreshing. She continued on the with black paint until the stencil was full and then she capped the can, tossing it to Delsin. He twirled it in his fingers and then proceeded to tear down the stencil and start to put up the other.

She stepped in to help keep it up and he quickly taped it in place and handed her another can, this time a light blue color. Repeating the process, she locked her eyes on the shade of blue as it started to fill in the picture, making it look like a security camera. He tended to have some quirky twists with his artwork, so it made her wonder exactly what this was going to be when it was done.

After the blue was filled in, they repeated the process with the paper and she was spraying the last layer with white. She had to admit, the sound of the can was soothing in a way, as it blocked out some of the noise she was so used to hearing, and the way simple shapes became a picture was pretty cool. After she was done with the white, Delsin took the lead, adding the finishing touches that he didn't want her to see quite yet. The only can he wasn't using was the blue, so she took hold of it, pressing her lips together and wandering a little bit away from the artist and his work.

He seemed to like to convey his messages in words, but not everyone got the chance to take a step back and observe the work and pull the meaning from it. So she shook the can, taking a moment to ponder the size she wanted it, and then started to write. The paint went smoothly on the wall and there was something about free-hand rather than the stencils that felt much nicer and less restricting. Not as pretty, but it was meant to convey a meaning. Something that maybe people around her could hold onto. She wished she could have had something like that when she had to start living on the streets in fear of her life. Elijah had been the only one holding her together.

Taking a step back, she admired her rather sloppy work, but found it brought a little bit of a fire to her. Maybe even to the people watching. Sprawled out in light blue paint, was the phrase:

'REVOLUTION IS COMING'

"Atta girl. You having fun?" Delsin appeared beside her with a small smirk on his face as he looked over the words. "I like the way you think. You wanna see the finished product?"

Capping the spray can, she took a few steps to the side to see what teh finished product was. The security camera she painted was still there, but now there was also a seagull crapping on the lens. She snickered, setting the can down and looking it over.

"Well...that's one way to get a point across. What are you gonna call it?" she asked, knowing he liked to come up with witty names for them.

"I was thinking you could name this one," he suggested. "You know as long as it's good."

"Alright fine. How about..." She pressed her lips together, taking a moment to think. "Hey...Lens Crap? Like lens craft?"

"You're not bad at the naming thing. Lens Crap it is." He chuckled.

Evelyn felt satisfied that he accepted the name. Though the fact that they were watching always gave her the creeps. Her eyes took a quick sweep over the small area they were in and she was actually surprised to see that there was indeed a security camera across the street, aimed right at them. It was probably best they got going...but first...

"Toss me a can," she told him, walking across the street in front of a stopped car.

Delsin didn't hesitate and tossed one too her as she was walking. She caught it easily and set it down on the ground once she got to the security camera. With a little bit of effort, she leaped up to a small outcropping and turned the camera toward herself, using a single finger to crush the lens and then tearing it off the stand so it hung by a wire. She dropped down, scooped up the can, and jumped back up, managing to take the cap off and shake it up before spraying. Working quick, she got the letters formed sloppily, but it was still easy enough to read, dropping down one final time, she looked up at her work.

'CAN'T SEE ME'

"Nice," Delsin chuckled, taking the can from her as she put her hands on her hips.

"Figure it's a start." She shrugged, figuring if they were going to start defacing property to win their cause, they may as well start with the people watching them.

"Well you figured well. They can't see us now, so..."

"Sure there's plenty more we should be tearing down before they can't see us completely."

"Why don't we go and-"

A ringing phone interrupted them and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, leaning a bit closer to her and putting the phone between the two of them. Reggie's voice was on the other line, but halfway through speaking, Fetch's voice joined the mix. She didn't realize Delsin had accepted her into the three-way call, which annoyed his older brother.

"Look, we'll be fine getting there, it's not a problem," she tried, though figured he'd not want to hear her voice so it would just annoy him further.

She proved to be right.

"Just call me when you get there," Reggie snapped before hanging up.

Shaking her head, she put her hands in her pockets and took a small step away, frowning to herself.

"Don't worry about him. He's always a stick in the mud. Come on, we should get going to check this place out," he muttered, turning and then neon-dashing up the side of the wall.

Evelyn shrugged a little to herself and followed after. Lucky for them, this bridge wasn't too far away so they got there rather quickly, though there was one major problem awaiting them when they slipped through the fence.

She barely poked her head out from behind the shipping containers when automatic turrets started to fire. Quickly, she ducked back before a bullet could hit her and she pressed her back against the metal container, wincing. Well they obviously weren't going to get around that way. But they could easily climb over.

"Up and over," she commented, swinging up and onto the shipping container.

"What? Don't you want to get hit by hundreds of bullets one after the other?" Delsin joked, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Ha ha. Very funny." She climbed up again, slipping through two of them before dropping down behind the turret.

With ease, she ripped off the power source. The two of them continued forward, finding a few other turrets along the way but effectively dealing with them. As they got deeper in, she started to feel more anxious and uneasy. It wasn't until they got to the gap in the bridge that she started feeling hesitation.

"I dunno, Delsin. Maybe we should head back," she suggested, looking at the ominous barrier.

"This is a lead, Ev. You said it yourself, you'd go when we had a lead. I'm not going over until you do," he huffed.

"Well we could stand here all day." A flicker of fear flashed in her eyes at the thought of having to go over first.

"Uh no? Look you really gotta get over this. If you really want to find Elijah and help make a difference, you can't turn back every time it seems bad."

She knew that. Gosh she really did. But moving past her fears seemed so difficult. Slowly she seemed to be working toward things she hadn't done before, but she had a bad feeling about this place.

"You go first, I'll be right behind you," he assured, patting her on the shoulder.

Heaving a heavy sigh, she stepped forward, looking toward the edge of the bridge and preparing herself. Just as she launched herself into the air, D.U.P. appeared from the other side and started to shoot. She dodge the first bullet, but another caught her in mid-air, sending her flying toward the ground. She landed harshly at one of their feet, her whole body feeling as if it had been hit by a train.

Before the D.U.P. could grab her, a smoke-shot hit him square in the chest, giving her the chance to scramble to cover. Delsin joined her side, peeking over the barrier they were behind to shoot until she recovered. It only took her a moment and she shook her head.

"I told you I had a bad feeling!" she shouted, wincing every time a bullet was fired.

"It's only a few! We can take them out quickly if you help!" he whined, shooting from one cover to the next in a cloud of smoke.

Ugh. Maybe she should have stayed behind. Taking a deep breath, she jumped into the fight, blowing two of them back with sound. They landed flat on their backs and she hurried to the closest one, subduing him and pulling him effectively out. She dodged another attack and plastered her back against a concrete slab, waiting for one moment before ducking out to attack again. A couple times, she got sprayed with bullets, but she made sure to duck into cover until her body healed itself moments later.

Between the two of them, they took out the ten D.U.P.s within minutes and while she was starting to feel more comfortable in a fight, she hoped that there wasn't anything else waiting for them up ahead.

She was the first to drop down on the lower level and he followed, taking a look around at the place that seemed barren. That was, until the witch herself appeared from higher up, looking pristine and menacing as usual.

"Ah shit...," Delsin murmured. "Lady, you are hell on bridges, you know that?"

Evelyn hung back a little, glaring up at the woman when she stopped at the edge to look down at them.

"So you recognize me?" she asked, putting her hands behind her back.

"Oh yeah, yeah. You're the one that had me dead to rights a couple weeks ago and just let me walk away. And I'm pretty sure she knows you well enough."

He gestured over to her and she clenched her fists, lips forming a thin line.

"Of course. I'd recognize her anywhere. Evelyn. Really surprised you decided to step up. Figured you'd be hiding behind a rock," she snickered, smirking at her.

Anger started to boil through her veins. "Give me Elijah and I'll leave you be. For good."

"No, see that's not how it works. Your friend has proven to be very unhelpful. No matter what we do to him, he doesn't seem to want to give us any information on you. I only took him because who I really need is you. But now that I know who exactly you're hanging around, I think he's disposable."

"You touch him and I swear-"

Delsin grabbed onto her sleeved wrist.

"I've heard that you two have done something different. You're getting stronger," she continued. "And I'm going to prove that right now."

She gestured to the side and neon lights switched on in several places around them. Not only did this happen, but a large D.U.P. came charging toward them, leaping down and landing right beside them. She skidded backwards from all of the force and her eyes widened as rocks wrenched themselves from the ground to encase the D.U.P. in protection. Never before had she seen one like this and instinctively, she scrambled for cover, ducking down just in time.

She pressed her back against he concrete, chest rising and falling rapidly with panic as crashes and shots of neon lasers filled her ears.

"Evelyn! I need a little help over here!" Delsin shouted from somewhere to her left.

But she could barely hear him. All the other noises were overpowering her senses and the fear settling in her stomach left her frozen in place. Sure, she had been fighting the smaller D.U.P.s, but this one...there was no way she could face him. And even if she had the ability to, she was too afraid. She would be letting Elijah down, but she couldn't do it. Her limbs began to tremble lightly at the thought of her best friend dying because of her, but what was she supposed to do? What if she went out to fight and got caught? Or dead?

"Evelyn! Evelyn, listen to me!"

She could hear his voice but he was too busy dodging the attacks to come and get her.

"I've seen what you can do! This'll be cake for the two of us, but you need to fight! Elijah needs you! Not me, _you_ ," he shouted, another crash following his words.

 _He needs me. He needs me._ She tried repeating that in her head over and over as her limbs shook. _You're more powerful than anyone I've ever met._

It was those words, Elijah's words, that got her to stand. Her hands still shook, but she slowly turned to face the lone D.U.P. as she lifted her arms. The echos of each attack before hand channeled into her body and her eyes glowed a bright white as the soundwaves charged toward the man. The rock barrier spinning around him practically exploded at the force of the attack. Delsin didn't waste any time and sent a neon missile toward him, which exploded on his chest. He landed on the ground, but only seemed mildly winded.

A moment later, he burrowed some concrete into the ground, which traveled straight toward the two of them. She started to run and turned tightly enough to dodge, but her new conduit friend wasn't so lucky. He got shoved off his feet and landed several feet away on his back, completely vulnerable.

In the blink of an eye, she'd sprinted over, placing her hands on either side of his head and forming a protective barrier around him as a rock of concrete hurtled their way. It crumbled on the shield, but put some strain on her. Delsin sat up, panting and giving her a smirk.

"Atta girl. Let's finish this guy off," he chuckled, scooting out from under her.

With a shaky nod, she turned, letting the barrier fall. He charged toward the guy, shooting neon laser after neon laser. Several of them hit him and when he fumbled the moment after he got hit, she sent sound waves his way. The combination of the two of them attacking and dodging flowed smoothly together and soon they had him on his knees.

She panted, leaning over as he subdued him. Sweat trickled down her forehead and she looked up at Augustine.

"Okay, so maybe I, you know, lied about the neon thing. But listen, I think I can save all of us a lot of time, here," Delsin wheezed. "I just need to...leech a little power off you and for you to let Elijah go."

"You want me to just give you my power? Let one of my prisoners go?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I mean not enough power to sink bridges or anything. But enough to pull your concrete daggers out of my friends, yeah. Then after that, you will _never_ see us again."

Evelyn knew that wasn't going to fly with her. And she was proven right when the woman shook her head.

"I've got a better idea," she started, waving a hand. Concrete crawled up his leg and trapped him in place.

As soon as she realized what was about to happen, she started to run. However, she was caught in place as her ankle got trapped and it slowly crawled up her body. Panic flooded into her system and she struggled.

"How about the two of you come back with me?"

"I kinda like my idea better," Delsin growled, lunging toward her to try and grab her wrist and get skin contact.

Augustine was too quick. She latched onto his wrist with a leather-gloved hand and smirked. "Oh Delsin. You disappoint me."

More concrete slid up her torso, trapping her and preventing her from moving anything but her head. Her heart started to race, frantic movements contained within her shell.

"Stop!" she screamed, trying to hold the tears back when she realized she was just going to be taken in and experimented on, the thing she had been running from for years.

"And you think I'm going to stop? When I have you and your little rebel friend in my grasp?" Augustine snorted, letting go of Delsin to move over to her.

But just as another tear slid down Evelyn's cheek, a screech from above interrupted them. Augustine stumbled backwards and she tried to angle her head to see what was happening, but she couldn't see anything...except the ground getting further and further from her in her concrete shell.

"Delsin?" she shouted over the wind, her hair flying in her face as she tried to turn her neck. She could just barely see his own concrete prison from beside her. "What the hell is happening?"

"You think I know?!" he shouted back, his voice sounding just as panicked as hers.

Some of the concrete was crumbling from her body and she was able to move more freely. They just made their way over one of the taller buildings when she was suddenly dropped.

With a scream, she landed on her back, the concrete encasing her crumbling as she landed on the roof. As soon as she landed, she rolled over to try and see where Delsin had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not with her or in sight. Sighing gently, she let herself fall onto her back. Her eyes blinked up at the evening sky and she drew in a deep, steady breath.

Now what?

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! So this is the last chapter that I have prewritten. Now, I'll have to write the chapters as I go, so it'll be longer for me to pop them out, though this one has been a while coming anyway. Sorry for the wait guys! Life has been hectic and I've lost a lot of motivation to be creative. I'm trying really hard to get back into writing but at this point I would love to publish a novel so most of my efforts have been for an original idea. That being said, I'm in the planning stage of my novel so until I actually get writing, I'm going to try and write any of my fanfictions to keep me still actively writing. So hopefully that means more from me soon! Thank you guys so much for continuing to read this and any of my other fanfictions, I really appreciate all of your support! Hope you enjoyed this one! :)**


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